BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — Long awaited improvements to fix a railroad crossing is causing a headache for some in Hernando County.
Thousands of vehicles use the highway 50 bypass every day to get to I-75 from Brooksville. Now its going to be closed for a month and some people in downtown Brooksville aren’t very happy about the rerouted traffic.
"It's out of control," said Lee Golinello about the traffic just a couple of steps outside of her business "Downtown Loser" in downtown Brooksville.
"Truck after truck after truck. I counted over 50 of them hauling through here between 50 and 60 mph," said Golinello.
The highway 50 bypass closed Monday to start a 30 day project to fix the railroad tracks that have needed fixed for a long time.
RELATED: Portion of State Road 50 to close for 30 days as crews make improvements
"It was really bumpy, like you would have to merge over to the left lane to go on the good side," said William Singer a lifelong Brooksville resident who says the fix is a good thing.
Traffic that normally takes the highway is now funneling through the narrow streets of downtown Brooksville.
"There is pedestrian parking all over the streets and you can’t even open you’re door. I went to open my truck door and I couldn’t open it because the trucks wouldn’t stop," said Golinello.
Though William Singer a barista at Mountaineer Coffee says when the detour started on Monday it was one of the busiest Mondays the downtown coffee shop has had in a while.
"I think people are getting lost and they’re wandering in here, which is good! We’ll take it," said Singer.
But Golinello says there needs to be more law enforcement to maintain the 35 mile per hour speed limit, especially with all of the pedestrian traffic.
"Somebody’s going to get hurt. Somebody’s going to step out of their car and get run over. I mean its really creating a dangerous situation," said Golinello.
ABC Action News reached out to the Brooksville Police Department who says they will step up traffic monitoring in this area.
