Sonny’s BBQ owner Jim Hoff has seen his fair share of accidents on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in front of his restaurant, mostly from cars trying to cut across the busy road to get through an opening in the BBD median (see map) so they can head south.
That opening, however, is in the process of being closed, and Hoff says he is happy to see it.
“It’s going to be better,” Hoff says. “Without that traffic trying to go back and forth across that median, it’s got to be better.”
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has finally started work near arguably Wesley Chapel’s most dangerous intersection at S.R. 54 and BBD.
The project centers around the northbound and southbound median just south of the actual BBD/54 intersection. Work on the project, which will cost just over $2 million, was scheduled to begin prep work on Sept. 22.
The median currently has an opening allowing motorists to cross from exits between the Sonny’s BBQ and Truist Bank (on what is called Paradise Tree Dr.) adjacent to the Publix-anchored Hollybrook Plaza to southbound BBD or straight across to the west, to Advance Auto Parts, Twistee Treat and the Wesley Chapel Village Market shopping center.
Drivers also frequently drive through the median leaving the Village Market to northbound BBD or straight across both directions on BBD to the Hollybrook Plaza.
The median should be blocked soon (if it’s not already as you’re reading this).
“The median will be closed…with traffic control devices — such as drums and closure signs — to allow the permanent traffic separator to be constructed,” said FDOT spokesperson John McShaffrey in an email to the Neighborhood News.
According to FDOT, the median project was initiated by an intersection study that showed 233 “crashes” had been reported in that area from 2011-15.
In a 2015-19 District 7 crash summary report, there were 90 total crashes reported at the intersection of BBD and S.R. 54, eight with serious injuries and one fatality. At the Village Market and BBD intersection, 15 crashes were reported, three of them with serious injuries.
It is not an uncommon sight to see an accident at the northbound side in front of the Sonny’s BBQ or Taco Bell, where traffic is much heavier than on the Village Market side.
A Neighborhood News Reader Survey in 2017 voted the BBD/54 intersection as the second-worst in Wesley Chapel, behind the I-75 and S.R. 56 intersection (which now has a much safer and smoothly running Diverging Diamond Interchange).
The plan to make the location safer centers around closing the split median and constructing one long median from Eagleston Blvd. to the south all the way north to S.R. 54.
Under the current set up, the northbound far left turn lane, when filled during busy traffic hours, extends beyond the median opening and blocks those trying to cross BBD. That makes getting across from the Hollybrook Plaza exit to southbound BBD akin to a game of Frogger for area commuters.
The median closure will mean that drivers leaving the Sonny’s/Truist exit will only be able to turn right, and drivers leaving the Village Market will only be able to head south.
There will be a number of ways those who need to go south after leaving Sonny’s can do so, but it will take planning by drivers, Hoff says.
“You’re going to have to reeducate your guests on how to access (and leave) the complex (Hollybrook Plaza),” Hoff says.
The single, longer median also will create an extended left turn lane onto S.R. 54, which will accommodate more vehicles, which also is expected to reduce congestion.
There also will be a new traffic signal installed at Eagleston Blvd., and new roadway lighting added to the northbound lanes, as well as some resurfacing.
At the southbound end of the new median, where a new traffic signal will be installed at Eagleston Blvd., a dedicated U-turn lane will be built for motorists wanting to go north out of Village Market.
Hoff still has questions about northbound drivers doing U-turns at S.R. 54 and BBD. No additional work, like adding a “No U-Turn” sign, is scheduled for BBD and S.R. 54.
“The project plans do not include any changes to the existing signs or signals at the intersection of Bruce B. Downs Blvd. and SR 54,” said McShaffrey in his email to the Neighborhood News. “Northbound U-Turns at the S.R. 54 signal will still be permitted. There is no intent to restrict that movement, as U-Turns at traffic signals are generally part of the access management plans.”
Hoff is hoping most drivers will just take the longer way, turning right onto 54 and then U-turning at Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. and turning left at BBD.
“People who drive are going to have to figure this out,” Hoff says. “Talk to me once they get that median blocked. You’ll be able to tell how this is going to work then.”
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