There has been and continues to be a safety problem with automobile traffic at the intersection of
Edgewater Drive and Cousley Drive in Port Charlotte.
A) Heading North Exiting Cousley turning West on Edgewater
1) If you STOP at the Cousley Stop Sign your visibility of traffic on Edgewater to the West is limited (see Pix below).
2) A vehicle must advance through the pedestrian crosswalk to view both car lanes over the canal bridge
(see Pix below).
3) The speed limit on Edgewater is 35 mph (see Pix below). This can be converted to 51.34 ft/sec.
From the corner of Cousley to the ridge of the bridge (approximately 270 feet), it can be calculated
that there is 5 seconds from the time a driver sees an on-coming vehicle heading East on Edgewater to
the time of a potential collision at the Cousley/Edgewater intersection.
Since driver reflexes and time to cross Edgewater may take 5 seconds, this could result in a
collision at this intersection.
4) To address this traffic situation, two yellow-blinking lights/intersection crossing signs
(see Pix below) were installed warning the Edgewater traffic traveling East that there is a dangerous
intersection ahead. Such signage/lights caution drivers, but does not command them to reduce their
speed.
B) Heading North Exiting Cousley turning East on Edgewater
1) A1 thru A4 above applies but entering this intersection and turning EAST with the flow of traffic
does not appear as hazardous as is traveling through opposing traffic (see Paragraph A above).
C) Heading East on Edgewater turning South Entering Cousley
1) Vehicles must appreciably slow down to make this right turn on Cousley (see Pix below).
This could end up with the turning vehicle being rear-ended by following traffic coming over the
canal bridge. Also if the turning vehicle is going too fast and another car is exiting on to
Edgewater, there is a good chance of a collision.
D) Heading West on Edgewater turning South Entering Cousley
1) Again the 5 second time span applies for a vehicle to cross on-coming traffic lanes to navigate
this turn south onto Cousley.
Offered solution to the safety problem with vehicle traffic at the intersection of Edgewater Drive and
Cousley Drive in Port Charlotte.
A) Install a traffic light #1 at this intersection.
B) Remove the two yellow-blinking lights/intersection crossing signs and install a traffic light #2 in
their place.
C) Coordinate the signal control system between traffic light #1 and #2 as follows:
a) Traffic exiting Cousley onto Edgewater would trigger this traffic light system.
b) Edgewater traffic from the East wishing to enter Cousley from the left-turn lane
would also trigger this traffic light system.
c) Edgewater traffic from the West would stop before the canal bridge providing safe exiting/entering from and to Cousley.
April 30, 2013
I wonder if others feel the threat from an accident at the exit from Cousley Drive onto
Edgewater Drive?
While waiting to turn either right or left off Cousley Drive, one must be extra alert to
both directions for moving traffic including traffic waiting to turn onto Cousley Drive
from driving Westerly. The three different traffic patterns offer a real and present threat,
especially from fast moving traffic coming from the west over the bridge.
Traffic Engineers might take over one day after some fatal accident and limit turns for
right direction only and then how far down Edgewater heading East might the rules limit a
U-turn for return for those wanted to head West?
Another threat while sitting on Cousley waiting to enter Edgewater Drive is the threat
from some car turning off Edgewater onto Cousley from the Bridge and missing his control
resulting in a crash directly into the left side of the waiting car on Cousley Drive.
The driver of the Cousley Drive car probably would not survive this crash.
There are other problems also from this very dangerous intersection.
Consider the situation when one is returning to home from the West down Edgewater Drive,
coming over the bridge to turn and directly in front is another car that makes its turn and
then stops for some reason leaving you in danger from another car behind you coming over the bridge.
This has happened to me.
These threats may continue until some dramatic fatal accident unless somehow the problem
can be studied by traffic engineers and the threat managed before such a tragedy.
Might one of our movers and shakers find solutions to these problems?
John P Derr
148 Cousley Dr
625-8459
jonderr@yahoo.com