She was witness to one of the most brutal and deadliest crashes at the dangerous intersection in front of her store. She saw bystanders snatch the dead, charred body of the driver from the fiery crash of the battered pick-up truck. It was not until 30 minutes later that anyone realized another burnt, dead body was still inside the smoldering truck cab.
I never want to see anything like that again,”says Donna Dilling, owner of Des Champs, the country convenience store at the perilous intersection of US 98 and County Road 491 about eight miles northwest of Brooksville.
But this isolated intersection has become the focus of a determined effort by the Florida DOT to install an estimated $1.4 million “modern roundabout” starting in 2020. While DOT says funding has been secured, design and final approval are still pending. They plan to begin construction in 2022, then an estimated 18 months to 2 years for completion.
Even though the 57-year-old Dilling still waxes emotional over the pair of 25-year-olds whose deaths she witnessed in that July 2016 fatality, she is adamantly opposed to the need for the roundabout which she maintains is not the best safety solution and which she says “will put my store out of business” during disruptive construction and after with its inconvenience to customers.
“I am fighting DOT tooth and nail on this roundabout,” Dilling says at her store while waiting on customers—-cowboys and residents of the isolated area and transit truck drivers stopping for gas and a snack at her deli. Dilling spoke with The Hernando Sun briefly on Tuesday, the day after a Tampa TV crew shot a news piece about the controversial DOT roundabout remedy for the intersection which has experienced 27 vehicle crashes, including seven fatalities, since 2012. Ironically, Dilling and some friends and co-workers were standing outside her Des Champs store and gas station that hot, humid summer day when a garbage truck slammed into the pick-up truck snuffing out the lives of the two most recent victims.
FDOT engineers, using sophisticated presentations and data, have proposed the best solution is the roundabout which the DOT maintains would “reduce incidences and severity of crashes” at the notorious intersection which poses a severe sight problem at the crest of the pastoral rolling hills of rural Hernando County.
FDOT Project Manager Craig Fox who will be heading up the design portion of the project stated at a recent Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting that the main safety factor for the roundabout is slowing down speed. “Speed is one of the main factors in severe crashes,” he said. In terms of efficiency he added that there will not be a build up of traffic like at a traffic light intersection because multiple cars can enter the intersection at once.
The diameter of the roundabout, Fox says, will be between 100 and 130 feet. They plan to accommodate the large trucks that frequent the route using “truck aprons” which trucks can “mount” since they turn so wide.
He also explained that speed limit will decrease gradually, approaching the intersection, beacons as well as rumble strips will be installed to warn drivers of the upcoming roundabout.
While Dilling is staunchly against the roundabout, FDOT says they’ve been working with her to accommodate her concerns as a business owner.
Hernando County Commissioner John Allocco posed the following to the FDOT representatives, “I’ve met with this business, they’re very concerned. I think most of the commissioners in Hernando County received a large packet of petitions of people who are concerned about this because in essence they feel this is going to eliminate this business that serves this community. There’s a fuel station right there, which would be extremely close to that intersection… Will this roundabout be designed in a manner that we don’t lose that business that’s important to the people who live in that area and the cannery… to make sure people can get in and out safely?
Fox replied that their goal is to increase safety, with the least amount of impact to business or residential properties. They do not wish to impact right of way, which comes all the way up to the building of the Des Champs store.
Matt Nance with FDOT remarked that working with the owner they have moved the roundabout further and further from the pumps at the station. “We’ve been working over different solutions and we’ve actually changed the conceptual design a few times to push the roadway closer to the center, away from her (Des Champs) right of way line to give more buffer to the gas pumps,” he said.
While conversations have been had between the parties and FDOT has made some adjustments, still Dilling strongly suggests, “Take down the blinking caution light that is there now and put up a standard red, green and yellow stop light.”
She continued, “The truckers tell me they do not want a red light but the locals do want a red light. The truckers say they prefer a red light to the roundabout concept which would be awkward for their big vehicles to move around,” says Dilling. The store has been in Dilling’s family since 1951 and she took over ownership and management in March 2016.
The Des Champs store owner plans a public protest in the near future to go along with the approximate 2,000 signatures on the hard-copy petition she initiated even prior to the roundabout concept.
“We also have about 18,000 on an online petition for the red light and against the roundabout. People can read this and sign at care2petition.com under the category “how many more innocent lives,” points out Dilling.
Even though there is heated debate over the roundabout solution, Hernando County Commissioner Steve Champion is anxious to see some progress.
“Why does the government take so long? This has been a dangerous intersection for a long time and something needs to be done about it. Five years, that’s a long time. There’s no way to speed this up?” questioned Champion.
“The project is an MPO priority,” says one FDOT representative, “so we are actively looking for ways to advance it.”
Julie B. Maglio contributed to this report.