Local

FDOT Road Rangers dedicated to helping traffic flow

By Katie McKee
By Katie McKee

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Road Rangers are a service of FDOT, and they work daily responding to calls about issues on I-95 that could affect traffic flow.
 
Anything from stranded drivers to debris in the roadway, Road Rangers head out to help.
 
There are a total of eight of them, four on the Westside and four on the Southside. 
 
Action News rode along with the Southside supervisor, Michael Livingston. The first call he received was about a disabled vehicle on the side of the interstate.

He says their goal is to make sure the driver is in a safe place away from traffic and can get whatever help is needed.

Eighteen-year-old Sydney Gross was panicked when Livingston arrived, so he offered her a bottle of water, saying, “Everything is going to be OK. You are safe.”

Livingston set orange cones along the side of the interstate to show traffic that he was working, before jumping Gross’s broken-down Honda.

While Livingston worked on the car, traffic sped by, failing to slow down or even switch lanes -- all reasons Livingston says his job is risky.

“Every person has sped right by me. It’s dangerous and I’m glad that people are willing to go out of their way to help,” said Gross.

A lot of the Road Rangers' other calls deal with debris on the interstate.

Livingston says sheet metal, tires, plywood and even ladders are the most common things that end up causing problems on 95.

“We do the best we can to get the debris off the highway, but sometimes it's not always easy because of the traffic,” said Livingston.

Action News was told that debris was partly to blame for a deadly five-car crash early Monday morning that was outside of the stretch of 95 that Road Rangers patrol.

The Department of Transportation says that traffic management wasn’t able to see the debris in the roadway because it was dark.

Livingston says that they patrol from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and that they are the busiest from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.

He says that if anyone sees any debris on the interstate, they should call *347.

WJAX

0

Most Read