Resident petitions against roundabout at deadly DeLand intersection

Woman, 3 grandkids killed in fiery crash at State Road 44, Grand Ave.

DeLAND, Fla. – Pink flags and spray -paint mark the spots where a roundabout will soon be placed at a deadly DeLand intersection, but one resident is trying to put the brakes on the plan before it happens.

Just weeks after a grandmother and her three granddaughters were killed in a crash at that intersection of State Road 44 and Grand Avenue, FDOT put up a temporary traffic light and announced it will be building a roundabout there.

But resident James Fouts is against the idea, creating a petition on change.org to stop it from happening and 800 people signed the petition in the first four days.

"I think it's a bad idea altogether," Fouts said. "They are confusing. People in Florida don't know how to use them and a lot of people are against this. It's going to cause more congestion more accidents."

However, in a 93-page Roundabout Feasibility Study News 6 requested from FDOT, it says the opposite. The study doing a side-by-side comparison of the effectiveness of a traffic light versus a roundabout at the intersection.

The study showing a roundabout would reduce the number of traffic crashes that end in injury or fatality by 87 percent, compared by a traffic signal with would only decrease those crashes by 41 percent.

Still, Fouts feels Floridians are not ready for roundabouts and hopes to collect 10,000 signatures by the end of the month. He then plans to send the petition to state leaders, including the governor.

Roudabout Study by Melodi Smith