Maitland resident concerned about Horatio Avenue U-turns

MAITLAND, Fla. — A Maitland resident says U-turns and drivers blocking the intersection at Minnehaha Road and Horatio Avenue are creating backups and close calls for people trying to leave his neighborhood.

Bill Conroy contacted Spectrum News’ Traffic Inbox about the intersection, where he said westbound drivers on Horatio Avenue heading toward U.S. 17/92 often cause backups that block Minnehaha Road. He said the problem can get worse when eastbound drivers on Horatio Avenue make U-turns to head west.

“As you can see, nobody pays attention to keep the intersection clear,” Conroy said. “That’s probably the first issue. And it only gets worse when people go to make a U-turn so that they can go west on Horatio.”

Conroy said turning from Minnehaha Road onto Horatio Avenue can require waiting for a break in traffic, especially during the school year.

“This is one of the issues. She’s going to do a U-turn, and of course that’ll hold things up,” Conroy said while at the intersection. “And these folks are nice enough to have left room for us. So today is a good day, but it’s not unusual to sit there five minutes.”

Conroy said the traffic issues have led to close calls, something that concerned him when his daughters used the road to get to school.

“I had two daughters for many years who would go to school down the road here,” he said. “And when they would drive out of our neighborhood, I was always in fear for them. But they’re good drivers, so nothing really happened.”

Conroy said a “No U-turn” sign was once posted at the intersection, something that he would like to see reinstalled. Spectrum News reached out to the city of Maitland to ask whether changes could be made.

Maitland spokesperson Robert Sargent said the sign was likely removed before a project several years ago.

“The U-turn sign was not part of a roadway redesign more than a decade ago,” Sargent said. “Changes to that roadway design and a requisite traffic study are not warranted by one request.”

Sargent said Conroy can contact the city for more information about his concern.

Conroy said moving U-turns farther down Horatio Avenue could help reduce congestion near Minnehaha Road.

“If they just move the U-turn down to this area here, which is a much bigger area, there’s a much smaller development over here,” Conroy said. “I think it could clear things up.”

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