Despite flak, state to keep evacuation plan
Itwas Florida’s largest evacuation ever.
And it came as the state was trying out a new evacuation plan that allowed drivers to ride on highway shoulders instead of reversing all lanes to one direction. The idea was to minimize driver confusion and risk, while allowing supply trucks to go into areas thatwere evacuating.
Did it work? Some of the record 6 million Florida residents and touristswhogot stuck on roadways for hours said the state needs to keep the one-way lanes plan, ensure more gas is available and provide more evacuation routes.
But Jeff Frost, with the Florida Department of Transportation, said the highway shoulder plan was a success and drivers
can expect to see it used again.
“We’re not considering a return to [one-way lanes],” he said. “We’re going to continue to work on improvements to allow shoulder-use on other corridors.”
House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, said the state can do better. So he has set up a hurricane response committee to find ways to improve the state’s disaster-readiness in years to come.
“Gas wasn’t readily accessible,” Corcoran said. “Why don’t we have a significant gas reserve in the central part of the state so that’s not an issue moving forward?”
In a letter to Gov. Rick Scott, state Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, wrote, “We should learn from the experiences of this effort, while those lessons are fresh in ourmindsin order to positively impact future preparedness.”
Stu Opperman, 52, of Hollywood, said making more lanes available is the answer.
“If you can make all the lanes one direction — I don’t know if that’s possible — but it could have helped,” he said.
He drove Florida’s Turnpike, Interstate 75, and several back roads to get his family to Atlanta four days before Irma made landfall.
“I think the whole extravaganza took 23 hours,” he said. “We usually do that trip in about half the time.”
Florida’s Turnpike retains the option tomake all lanes one-way north of Boynton Beach, but did not do so because the governor has to give the order.
LaurieWoodward Garcia, 50, of Miramar, drove on I-75 across Alligator Alley and up the west coast past St. Petersburg. She said the state should consider creative alternatives such as bus convoys to relieve traffic congestion.
“Why arewe taking individual cars? Why aren’t we taking buses up north?” she said. “Why are we clogging the roads with one- or two-person vehicles? That’s just ridiculous.”
Wolfgang Pinther, 35, of Miami, wants to see something done about gas supplies.
“When Iwas on the turnpike, the lines at the gas stations must have had hundreds of cars,” he said.
The wait at some rest stop plazas partially blocked the evacuation route for other drivers.
“There might be 300 or 400 cars in line to [exit] and the first 50 were actually on the plaza property,” Opperman said. “The rest of them were on the turnpike in the passing lane and they were just stopped, sitting there.”
Jillian Evangelista, 24, was driving to Tampa as tankers were refueling gas stations. But it wasn’t nearly enough to meet the demand, she said.
“We started getting gas shortages in West Palm Beach on Tuesday, way before the storm was supposed to hit on Sunday,” she said. “We were a little bit panicked.”
David Tucker, 60, drove from Miami Shores to Sarasota and back again when Irma changed direction. He’s considering a new plan, too.
“Next time I’m going to do it differently,” he said. “I don’t know how I’m going to do it differently, but I’m going to do it differently. It’s crazy.”