After tragedy, boat ramps to get improvements

Leon County will install additional safety markers at most of its boat landings in response to a car crash that killed three people last week.

Leon County Administrator Vince Long announced the changes, which include additional signs and rumble strips, at Tuesday's County Commission meeting. Long had ordered the inspection in the days following the crash to see if any additional precautions could be taken.

About 1:15 a.m. on May 15, a car carrying four people drove off a county boat landing on Coe's Landing Road and plunged into Lake Talquin. The driver, 29-year-old Larry Hall, drowned along with two of his passengers, 29-year-old Pierce Deon Wood Jr. and 26-year-old M'Bres Petty. Fishermen pulled 26-year-old Takara Holmes to safety.

Leon County Commission Chairman Bill Proctor also called for an immediate review. He said in a memo there were no signs water was ahead before the car went into the lake.

In a memo to Long, County Public Works director Tony Park said the inspection found the county's 25 boat landings satisfy state and county traffic requirements.

Most boat landings, including the landing on Coe's Landing Road, have a 30 mph speed limit on the roads approaching the boat landings. On Coe's Landing Road, the speed limit decreases to 20 mph when a driver gets within 1,000 feet of the landing. That's followed by a dead end sign 500 feet from the landing.

Despite the current safety measures, the following enhancements will be installed:

• Stop signs and pavement demarcations will be placed where roads end and boat landings and campground areas begin.
• Installing "Stop Ahead" signs to complement stop signs.
• Putting up signs with the name of a boat landing or campground on the road with another message displaying the distance to the facility. The distance could range between 1,500 and 2,500 feet.
• Placing "Dead End" signs about 100 to 150 feet away from the turn onto a road leading to a boat landing or campground.
• Placing spaced markings or rumble strips on the pavement approaching the stop signs at the entrance of a facility.

The improvements were recommended for 19 of the landings. Parks said the improvements weren't needed at the remaining facilities.

The sign and pavement markings, Parks said, could be completed within two weeks. He added that all of the improvements, estimated to cost about $100,000, could be done by the end of the year.

Commissioners thanked Long and staff for their quick work following the tragedy.

"I think it's good to acknowledge that we can't prevent every tragedy," said Commissioner Kristin Dozier. "But this is one that it was more than appropriate to jump on really quick. We did. There's some easy things that could just help in the future. This was the right step."

Contact Sean Rossman atsrossman@tallahassee.com or follow@SeanRossman on Twitter.