Keys rte 1 - very few street lights, very few traffic lights - lots of accidents? (Largo: 2015, construction)

[Marguerite2015]

Just spent 2 weeks in Key Largo and travelled A LOT up and down route 1 from Largo down almost to Key West and back multiple times, at all hours of the day. Surprised to find that for a road as long as this, it has weirdly few street lights, and almost no traffic lights.

That some stretches of the road indicate that the 45 mph speed limit is lowered to 35mph at night + of course existence of large bodies of water right next to the road on both sides for much of the journey ... have to suspect that there are some pretty bad accidents here, and many more than one would normally find on a similar road had they simply done the basics and provided adequate lighting and more traffic lights.

Just curious what others think/if anyone knows why the hell the only road that traverses the entirety of the Keys is set up this way.

[Corrie22]

and yet, you traveled up and down the Keys "multiple times, at all hours"...for 2 weeks....and lived to tell about it LOL

[Marguerite2015]

Originally Posted by Corrie22

and yet, you traveled up and down the Keys "multiple times, at all hours"...for 2 weeks....and lived to tell about it LOL

Good afternoon. Not sure what your point is, but thanks. Have a nice day.

[Corrie22]

you traveled the road multiple times at all hours for 2 weeks

....did you see accidents?...

first off, you did notice that there's water on both sides of the road......that alone does not call for a lot of traffic lights

and all of the Keys being a marine sanctuary....you can't have lights at night with turtles nesting...lights on the roads would just attract the turtles to the roads...and really pizzoff the tourists that come to see the stars LOL

[Marguerite2015]

Originally Posted by Corrie22

you traveled the road multiple times at all hours for 2 weeks

....did you see accidents?...

first off, you did notice that there's water on both sides of the road......that alone does not call for a lot of traffic lights

and all of the Keys being a marine sanctuary....you can't have lights at night with turtles nesting...lights on the roads would just attract the turtles to the roads...and really pizzoff the tourists that come to see the stars LOL

Hi again,

You know, there's really no reason to be a sarcastic jerk, here. Why cop an attitude with a complete stranger? What does it gain you? There was in fact a fatal tractor trailer accident on Dec 5th while we were there, at about 4am about 20 miles outside of Key West. In the pitch black, the truck hit a completely unmarked and unwarned about construction barrier and burst into flames, blocking both sides of rte 1 for several hours and burning the poor driver alive.

I see your point about no lighting ie turtles and such. What is the reason for almost no traffic lights? Additionally, when attempting to head the opposite direction ie if you are on the north side, but want to head south, you have to dash across 2 or more lanes of rte 1, where vehicles are going near highway speeds, to the median. Once in the median btw, half the time a vehicle on the southbound side wanting to go north would also head into the median at the same time. Sometimes it would be on the wrong side of the median when doing so, in large part because of absolutely no markings at all to let people know how this is supposed to work, because it's anything but obvious. As a result, we saw a few near misses just for this reason.

Obviously the area is overrun with tourists and newcomers. This along with almost no traffic lights + the lack of street lighting is insane and begging for yet more bad accidents.

Happy New Year to you and your family. Not said sarcastically.

[Corrie22]

apologize for coming across as sarcastic...and making you defensive....nothing I said was sarcastic...

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by Marguerite2015

Just spent 2 weeks in Key Largo and travelled A LOT up and down route 1 from Largo down almost to Key West and back multiple times, at all hours of the day. Surprised to find that for a road as long as this, it has weirdly few street lights, and almost no traffic lights.

That some stretches of the road indicate that the 45 mph speed limit is lowered to 35mph at night + of course existence of large bodies of water right next to the road on both sides for much of the journey ... have to suspect that there are some pretty bad accidents here, and many more than one would normally find on a similar road had they simply done the basics and provided adequate lighting and more traffic lights.

Just curious what others think/if anyone knows why the hell the only road that traverses the entirety of the Keys is set up this way.

I was recently in the Keys and found them darker than I expected. That being said, there are plenty of places in the US, even very built-up places, with little to no street lighting. For the most part, the Keys aren’t really that built up. The more built up Keys tended to have more street lighting.

My bigger thought was “Wow, it must be tough for the locals trying to turn left onto Route 1 at certain hours of the day.” But, there can’t be traffic lights everywhere, either.

I hope the Keys are still there in 10-15 years, and not under water. I’m not a total alarmist regarding sea level rise, but I won’t deny it, either. The Keys would be a great place to retire, or at least snow-bird. I thought they were like a little bit of paradise in the US. Warm winter weather, sunny skies (mostly), and nice people (mostly).

[Corrie22]

Originally Posted by BPP1999

I hope the Keys are still there in 10-15 years, and not under water.

the water will be 1 inch higher......the rate of sea level rise is 1 inch a decade...and has not changed in over 100 years

https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sl...tml?id=8724580

[MiamiLIFE]

Originally Posted by Corrie22

the water will be 1 inch higher......the rate of sea level rise is 1 inch a decade...and has not changed in over 100 years

https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sl...tml?id=8724580

We all probably be dead from a nuclear winter before climate change gets us.

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by Corrie22

the water will be 1 inch higher......the rate of sea level rise is 1 inch a decade...and has not changed in over 100 years

https://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sl...tml?id=8724580

Good. I hope this trend remains.