HILLABOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFTS) — If you travel on West Waters Avenue in Town 'N' Country, you know how busy it can be. Now, there's one spot where you're no longer allowed to make a U-turn.
Matt Williams relies on the intersection everyday coming to and from his home.
"Waters [Avenue] is becoming a very busy street, and it's growing more and more every day. And so getting in and out was a process. You have to plan for it. And you know, younger drivers, it's challenging just being on the road, much less having to deal with as many points of entry and exit that were happening at this intersection. And then, having someone U-turning in front of you just made life unbearable almost every day," Williams said.
He says he first started to push for change at the intersection around 2019.
"I had reached out to the county several times, and we were denied a no U-turn sign at the intersection for various reasons. They, multiple times, denied the claim," Williams recalled.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says there were five wrecks at the intersection last year.
"The county came back and said there's not enough crashes at that intersection, and it's really hard. I kept trying to explain them, it's hard to quantify that there have been multiple incidents at this intersection that don't qualify as a crash because of a U-turn. And I hate to think that we're penalizing the cautious people in our subdivision for trying to avoid those crashes by saying they just don't happen, instead of 'let's see how we can avoid it'- even the hint of it happening," Williams said.
He ventually called his State Representative, Susan Valdes, in March 2024.
"Susan Valdez was very open to talking about it, and immediately jumped on the issue. She was one of the champions of this project to make it actually happen. And within about 30 days from reaching out and talking to her, we had our first meeting with the county,"Wiliams said.
"The safety at this intersection, this no U-turn sign you see behind me represents something far more important. Which is the power of community advocacy and the collaboration between local governments and state governments to address the concerns that impacts our daily lives and our communities. It all started with a constituent's phone call and a constituent's voice, and that voice led to real action," Representative Valdes added.
Hillsborough County conducted a traffic study in the area.
"There's a lot of different things that we'll look at from a traffic safety analysis, and we're looking to make a change or an improvement like this," said Joshua Bellotti, Director of Engineering & Operations for Hillsborough County. "We look at crash data. We'll look at the geometry of the intersection and the nearby access points, as well as the behavior of drivers and motorists in the area too. And so we do that through a thorough field inspection and camera observation that we did over the course of several days. And so we were able to identify some conflicts and some things that we thought we could resolve and help make some improvements by the installation of these signs."
Williams can now proudly say he was a part of a positive change in his neighborhood.
"I was not expecting the response that I got, the openness to hearing my problems. Like I said, I'm sure there are larger issues than a U-turn sign at an intersection near where I live," he said. "So for her to, as I said, jump on it and champion the issue as if it was a problem of her own, was refreshing. You know, needless to say, in this kind of, in our environment today, most people don't think to be able to get that kind of reaction from a state representative for small issues like this."
And this is his message to anyone else with an issue they may believe is too small to inquire about:
"Most people probably would have given up by now. So to get to this point and see kind of the fruits of my labor, it's rewarding. But I would also tell people, don't give up on your convictions. I mean, fight for what you believe is right, and then ultimately it can happen. You might just need the right resources in your corner," Wiliams said.
The sign is now placed at the intersection of Waters Avenue and Pat Boulevard.
Kimberly Byer, Assistant County Administrator, Public Works Administration for Hillsborough County, says she encourages residents to reach out if they see an issue they want addressed in their community.
"Our residents are the eyes and ears of the county, and we believe the people closest to the problem are best to help with the solution. So we welcome any comments or any issues that you may see in the community. Go to HCFL.gov, we will acknowledge you and go follow through with with your with resolving your issue again," she said.
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