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Inoperable Traffic Lights Lead Rash Of 72 Accidents On Broward Roads

November 18, 2005

Combine kids heading back to school for the first time in two weeks with repair crews trying to fix lights, police directing traffic and a rash of accidents on major highways, and you have the perfect witch's brew for a Monday morning traffic nightmare.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Authorities announced Monday that traffic signals on seven of the county's major corridors, Broward Boulevard, Commercial Boulevard, State Road 7/441, Pines/Hollywood Boulevard, Sample Road, U.S. 1, and University Drive, have been repaired. They also announced the seven to 10 other major arteries they'll focus on next, and hopefully, the commute should be smoother as parents put their children on buses and motorists return to normal work schedules.

On Monday, there were 72 highway accidents in Broward County alone, including one fatality in which a man throwing rocks over an overpass was struck and killed by a car. ''We knew it was going to be bad, but this was the worst that I can remember in a long time,'' said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Bill Ferrell who saw traffic on I-595 East backed up to the Sawgrass during morning rush hour. Interstate 95 wasn't much better, with major tie-ups because of the fatal accident. ''A man who was spotted throwing rocks over the Sunrise Boulevard overpass was hit by a southbound car as he tried to run across I-95 at 9:27 a.m.,''

Ferrell said.Christie Klammer, spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation, agreed that the rest of the week will improve as kids take the bus to school. It took Jonelle Lewis of Davie almost 40 minutes to drive her three children from her home on Hiatus Road to their schools on Nob Hill, normally a five-minute drive. Her son, Eric, 13, attends Indian Ridge Middle School and her son, Ethan, 10, and daughter Elan, 7, attend Fox Trail Elementary across the street. She drove her kids to school because Eric wanted to be on time for basketball tryouts. ''It was so bad I saw some kids take their bikes out of their parent's car while they were stuck in traffic and bike to school,'' she said.

But after 9 a.m., traffic was fairly smooth. Klammer confirmed that signals on the county's major corridors are working, weeks ahead of the original forecast. Repairs were expected to last most of the month. ''On Tuesday we will announce seven to 10 other corridors that we will begin working on,'' said Klammer. ``They are all located within a one-mile radius of a school.'' Klammer said that as of late Monday, 645- or almost half of the 1,332 damaged signals in Broward had been repaired.

Tri-Rail, which began its first full day back on track, also experienced delays, according to spokeswoman Bonnie Allen. ''At least five trains experienced delays of up to 40 minutes,'' she said. ``And the last train that left Miami International Airport at 10:15 was delayed for two hours due to signal damage at Pompano Beach.''

Ruben Parker, director of Transportation Services for the Broward public school system, said that buses for the most part had no problem navigating the streets to get children to school. There were no accidents and only a handful of buses were late, all because of traffic, he said. Vondra Oliver of Miramar said her son's bus arrived on time and managed to get to school on time despite heavy traffic along Sheridan and Pines. Her son Michael, 11, attends Silver Trail Middle School in Pembroke Pines. She intends to let the bus take them to school today.