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Published on Wednesday, March 17, 2004
in the Orlando Sentinel
A new squad of state troopers rolls onto Interstate 4 on Friday, promising a smoother flow along the highway through Central Florida.
The 18 troopers and three supervisors, based at the East International Speedway Boulevard station, will patrol a 52-mile stretch of I-4 between Saxon Boulevard in Orange City and the Osceola-Polk county line.
Troopers' main assignment, officials say, will be clearing accidents. As many as one-third of accidents on I-4 are caused by congestion created by earlier accidents, said Steve Homan, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.
Once traffic flow has been restored for commuters, troopers also will be cracking down on tailgaters, lane-surfers and other aggressive drivers who officials say have crowded I-4 in the relative absence of cops.
"We want to be visible again. We want the public to know we're out there, so we can take back I-4," said Kim Miller, Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman. "It's gotten out of control."
On a good day, Miller said, two troopers might be patrolling I-4 in any given county, but often there is just one, she said. Sometimes, when troopers respond to accidents in unincorporated areas with few emergency personnel, there are none, she said.
By this summer, when the "open-roads policy" is fully launched, five to seven troopers will patrol the 52-mile stretch of I-4 during the morning and evening commutes when traffic is heaviest, Miller said. The DOT is funding the program at a cost of $1.2 million annually, Homan said. The program will cost $2 million to launch.
Transportation officials offered to pay for more troopers to improve traffic flow as much as possible while construction crews work to build new lanes, creating bottlenecks and other traffic snarls in the meantime.
"The sooner you get accidents cleared, the fewer you'll have," Homan said.