Replacement light at Plant City intersection may cost much less, state says

Oops.

It turns out a new light for a Plant City intersection may not cost $232,000 or more.

The actual price tag may be closer to $100,000.

Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kris Carson blamed a miscommunication with a staff engineer on an estimate that the replacement light at Baker and Franklin streets would cost $232,000 or more. The engineer thought she was asking how much it would cost for a totally new light and related equipment, when she was inquiring about a replacement.

Since there was a light there before a storm knocked it down, much of the equipment, such as a control box, is already in place, she said.

The city still thinks it would cost at least $200,000, and is balking at spending that much money.

City Engineer Brett Gocka said the old traffic light - which hung from a wire - was already due to be replaced with one attached to a metal pole and arm that is resistant to strong winds. The state had already agreed to spend $200,000 on the replacement, he said.

The city has a contract with the Florida Department of Transportation to maintain traffic signals on state and federal roads, including Baker. The city considers the total destruction of the signal and pole more than maintenance and the city appears to be on the hook for replacing the light.

The city is trying to determine how many motorists use the intersection and if it's worth it to replace the light.

"It is premature at this point for me to say one way or the other how that will come out," City Manager Greg Horwedel said. "We are trying to evaluate different options. When we reach a point that we can report on a mutually agreed outcome we will bring it to the (city) commission. We're just not there yet."

The city has placed traffic counting devices to determine the number of motorists who would benefit from the light.

Carson said her agency is "waiting for Plant City to collect traffic numbers in the area to determine if a traffic signal is needed at that intersection."

"Options other than replacing the traffic light will be discussed once the numbers are in," Carson said.

Gwen Nicholls, who lives at the intersection, said she'd like to see the barricades come down, which she said tend to collect debris blown around by the wind. Also, motorists will occasionally get out of their vehicles to move the barricades so they can reach Baker, which is westbound U.S. 92.

The problem started when a large oak fell at the southwest corner of the intersection. A steel reinforced concrete pole that took most of the weight snapped about two feet above the ground, and crashed into the intersection, trapping a car and its passengers under the tree, the power line and the pole.

The occupants had to be rescued by firefighters after Tampa Electric turned off power, said Dave Burnett, chief of training at Plant City Fire Rescue.

Nicholls was home when the tree, pole and light came crashing down.

"It was pretty scary. It took over an hour to get the people out of that car," she said. "There were police and fire trucks and other people here trying to clear the mess."