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| Volume XXV, Number 3 | February 27, 2004 |
By Shelley Marmor
BIG CYPRESS — Carmen Arrango, Site Supervisor for Family Services in Big Cypress knows the dangers of County Road 833, AKA Snake Road, first hand. She travels on the road twice daily, and says she sometimes feels frightened because Snake Road has no rails on its sides, and “if you go off the side you go into the canal.”
“ Its only two lanes,” said Arrango. “There’s no railing, no lights; it’s very dangerous.”
While Arrango and others who have traveled on Snake Road acknowledge the dangers, the numbers speak for themselves. According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, between 1997 and 2001, there were more than 74 accidents reported, resulting in 46 injuries, 6 deaths, and more than $400,000 in damage.
In addition, of the 34 curves on Snake Road, only one meets the governmental safety standards for a road with a 45 miles-per-hour speed limit, which is the speed limit on the entire road.
On Jan. 23, President George W. Bush signed Public Law 108-199, the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004.” This law will allocate $1 million to make improvements on Snake Road, the main highway off of I-75 going into the Big Cypress Reservation.
The $1 million will come from a Federal Transportation and Treasury Bill. In addition to the money coming from the federal bill, the state of Florida must also contribute 45 percent, meaning the combined amount of money for improvements to Snake Road will total $1.45 million.
In 1991, the tribe attempted to make improvements to the road; however, a consultant from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) estimated the project would cost approximately $18 million. When the BIA told the tribe the funding was unavailable, the repair efforts went dormant for more than a decade.
In Oct. 2002, the tribe held a meeting at the Hollywood Offices that specifically dealt with making the overdue changes on Snake Road. The meeting paid off since Phase I repairs on the road are slated to begin in late Spring or early Summer, according to Larry Haley, Regional Road Engineer for the BIA in Nashville, Tenn.
Snake Road presently has two-ten foot wide, and no shoulder. Phase I improvements include building a shoulder, and working on the signs on the road. During construction drivers will likely experience road workers called flaggers “redirecting traffic and closing one lane,” Haley said.
After Phase I, Haley said the BIA must obtain more money to begin Phase II which will include widening the road from two lanes to four lanes, and adjusting the elevation of the road, which means workers will raise the outside edges of Snake Road so they are more even in height with the inside area of the lane. This measure will make the road safer because drivers will be less likely to slide off the side of the road.
Haley added that Phase I construction will begin on the Seminole side of the road and move west toward the Miccosukee reservation.
Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart R-FL, who works closely with the tribe, helped promote this bill, consequently helping it pass in both the House, by a margin of 242 – 176, and Senate, by a margin of 65 – 28. Representative Díaz-Balart serves the 25th district of Florida, which includes the western portion of Miami-Dade County, Collier County and Monroe County.
Seminole Tribal President Moses B. Osceola met with the congressman several times to discuss what improvements to Snake Road would most benefit travelers on it. Osceola commended all Díaz-Balart’s hard work on this project.
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