Residents call for help at dangerous Parrish intersection. It may get a traffic light

It’s always been a difficult intersection, with its awkward angles and poor lines of sight.

With rapid population growth in the Parrish area only accentuating the danger, residents are asking something be done to make the Rye Road-County Road 675 (Rutland Road) intersection safer.

“I moved to Foxbrook last fall and since we moved, there have been over a dozen horrible accidents at Rye Road and County Road 675. The community is pleading for help to prevent the additional loss of life,” said Charlie Terenzio.

In December 2022, two people from Bradenton were airlifted to the hospital after their Volkswagen sedan collided with an 18-wheeler near the intersection of C.R. 675 and North Rye Road.

In 2019, a Manatee County deputy and four people in another car were injured at the intersection. One of the injured later died.

In both accidents, drivers failed to stop for a stop sign, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

More recently, a dump truck rolled through the intersection and knocked down a chain link fence on the north side of County Road 675 around a closed Foxbrook retail area.

Since 2018, there have been 18 crash reports for that intersection, 11 of them in 2022, according to the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization. The 18 crashes resulted in two fatalities and seven injuries.

The increased traffic and high rates of speed make the intersection, and others like it, a recipe for disaster, said Michael Williamson, division chief for Parrish Fire Rescue.

Ideally, Rye Road would intersect County Road 675 at a 90-degree angle. But the actual angle is much less than 90 degrees, requiring drivers to stop and check both ways very carefully before proceeding.

“Because of the angle, they have to inch out past the stop sign. If you’re out a foot past the stop sign, it’s messy,” Terenzio said.

There is also a danger of drivers passing cars turning off C.R. 675 onto Rye Road.

“People are barreling down 675. People are turning onto Rye Road and people behind them don’t want to slow down to allow someone to turn,” said resident Frank Abruzzino.

So, instead of slowing down, they attempt to pass, setting up a dangerous situation for someone trying to turn off Rye Road onto C.R. 675.

Abruzzino believes that if plastic dividers were set up along C.R. 675, that could help improve safety by discouraging passing at the intersection.

“There wasn’t that much traffic there back in the day, but that was before all the new subdivisions being built on Rye Road and 675. We need to speed up the process and provide a temporary fix,” Abruzzino said.

James Satcher, the county commissioner representing the Parrish area, said multiple roads in his district need attention to improve safety, but that Rye Road-C.R. 675 is at the top of the list.

Working with Manatee County staff, Satcher said he expects to see a traffic light go up at the intersection by year’s end or by February at the latest.

Part of the problem was getting the control boxes needed to install a new traffic light.

“The control boxes have been incredibly hard to find since COVID,” Satcher said.

That equipment has since been located, he said.

Longer term, the intersection needs to be reengineered, including widening and adding turn lanes, Satcher said.

“It’s a balancing act. Hopefully we can get it done,” he said. “The whole world wants to move to Manatee County.”

Terenzio agrees that the housing boom has exacerbated traffic concerns.

“The elected officials, the planners and the builders should be responsible to make sure people are safe,” he said.