Found an unusual hill

[Phu Cat]

While riding north on Florida route 301 a mile south of a little town called 'Waldo' there's an unusual hill. And you can tell because there's a sign on the side of the road to tell you so. It says: "Hill blocks view". There's no special view anyone would want to look at, nothing special to see. So why would any government entity put up a sign to warn you of something that incredibly obvious of any hill? Next time I'm out that way I'll take a picture of that sign and post it. This county must just have money to burn. After all, what hill wouldn't block your view???

PC

 

[Rosy]

In NH, the state would go broke putting a sign on every hill! LOL
I can see it in Florida, which is 90% flat, no offense.

Rosy

 

[cavie]

Your lucky you didn't get a speeding ticket. Waldo is the AAA listed #1 speed trap. Tickets are the only income the city has. I found one in Ft Ogdon that just says HILL. This is in SW Florida where there just ain't ANY hills. thrill ride here is going over a bridge.

 

[oahe]

A hill in Florida? Now I know you're joking!

 

[Trent]

There are a lot of signs here that say that exact thing. "Hill blocks view" . The crown of the hill is so steep that when you are at the top, the hood of your car blocks the view of the road in front and below you. All you can see is sky for a few seconds. I drive on one of these hills all the time and it is used by a lot of arrogant a-hole, spandex covered bicycle riders hogging the shoulder-less lane 2 or 3 wide, which is not legal. There have been several of them hit here because cars come over the hill at the same time and cannot see them. I have been to Florida, and I cannot see that ever happening there!

 

[retread83]

We live in Homossasa Hills Fl. Been looking for a hill since we moved here 8 years ago.:laugh:

 

[cavie]

Here it is!!

The hill sign should be a curve sign. You'll notice the woods behind the hill sign?? RUN UP ON THAT AT NIGHT!!!

We have another one (really) in Winter Haven that if you stop and put your car in neutral the car will roll UP the hill!

 

[scribe5]

I lived in Florida for a few years on the west coast and used to ride over to a place called "Howie In The Hills" in central Florida. It's somewhat close to Orlando and it had hills. It was a nice ride over from St. Pete....but that was 15 or so years ago and probably built up by now.

 

[Shimpy]

We have another one (really) in Winter Haven that if you stop and put your car in neutral the car will roll UP the hill!

SPOOK HILL ......went there in the 50's while in the Boy Scouts.

 

[Phu Cat]

The point was, what hill, anywhere, isn't going to block the view. Putting up a sign seems redundant.

PC

 

[cavie]

The point was, what hill, anywhere, isn't going to block the view. Putting up a sign seems redundant.

PC

Go back and read post #5. I can relate to it. We have 'em here on curves. "Hidden driveway"

 

[roadking2]

While riding north on Florida route 301 a mile south of a little town called 'Waldo' there's an unusual hill. And you can tell because there's a sign on the side of the road to tell you so. It says: "Hill blocks view". There's no special view anyone would want to look at, nothing special to see. So why would any government entity put up a sign to warn you of something that incredibly obvious of any hill? Next time I'm out that way I'll take a picture of that sign and post it. This county must just have money to burn. After all, what hill wouldn't block your view???

PC

You need to live around more hills. There are plenty of things to look out for especially when you crest that hill. School buses, driveways, animals in the road, a curve over the top, etc. I see nothing wrong with giving a traveler on the road a heads up that there may be something over the top you need to be looking out for especially if coming upon a hill is not normal to begin with. If hitting a hill isn't a normal occurrence, drivers probably don't even think about what could be lurking over the top.

 

[Phu Cat]

You need to live around more hills.
EXACTLY my point! Everybody knows that, so why would they have to put up a sign to acknowledge what everybody should all ready know. Same thing with curves and driveways. We all know anything can be hiding over the crest of a hill, so why put a sign up at one hill. Why not put up a sign at every hill, then?????????????????????????????? Because it would be redundant!

PC

As far as living around more hills, I relocated from Cincinnati and they have a hill or two. Sled riding in the winter was a blast there.

 

[cavie]

You need to live around more hills.
EXACTLY my point! Everybody knows that, so why would they have to put up a sign to acknowledge what everybody should all ready know. Same thing with curves and driveways. We all know anything can be hiding over the crest of a hill, so why put a sign up at one hill. Why not put up a sign at every hill, then?????????????????????????????? Because it would be redundant!

PC

As far as living around more hills, I relocated from Cincinnati and they have a hill or two. Sled riding in the winter was a blast there.

In Florida they do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! epper:epper:epper:

 

[Mick]

Here in Illinois we have plenty of hills except most people call them bridges.

 

[dadorfman]

My all-time favorite sign of this type was on I-405 next to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA, right after the road opened and it was still a sleepy airport. The East-to-West landing pattern featured planes landing about 1000 feet from the highway. For a long time, there were signs warning about low-flying planes. I don't think anybody ever got T-boned, but the signs eventually got taken down.

 

[BeHereNow]

The point was, what hill, anywhere, isn't going to block the view. Putting up a sign seems redundant.

PC

I put well over 100k 2 wheel miles in the heart of the Appalachians, so I know hills.
I've been living about 30 minutes from Waldo for 3 months now, maybe not 'a lot' of signs like that, but not unusual.

Here's the deal.
You can look down the road a long way, and see oncoming traffic, if there is any. Anywhere. The stretch to Cedar Keys must be over ten miles - straight, flat. If I go to pass a cage, sometimes I can't tell if the oncoming vehicle is a bike, a car, or a truck - just too far away to tell.
That is the 'norm'.
A stretch of road where a vehicle can drop below the line of sight, is unusual - and drivers need to be warned about the unusual.

A 'hill' here, wouldn't even be a change of grade up north, or so it seems.
But that is what it is, I am sure. An unusual situation for locals.
Seems crazy if you're not a flatlander.


Waldo has lost two police chiefs in 90 days.
They were making big money from tickets. Speed limit would go 55-45-35-45 -55 in quarter mile.

 

[Phu Cat]

Thanks for the heads-up on the police chiefs. I'll be extra careful going thru Waldo Beherenow. Were those speed limit changes on rt 301? Don't remember seein' em.

PC

 

[tom w]

shuuush ! you are going to de-stabilize the economy. stating the obvious with out a sign will stop several people from getting jobs.

 

[cavie]

Thanks for the heads-up on the police chiefs. I'll be extra careful going thru Waldo Beherenow. Were those speed limit changes on rt 301? Don't remember seein' em.

PC

Yes, US 301 runs thru Waldo for less than a mile.

 

[BeHereNow]

Thanks for the heads-up on the police chiefs. I'll be extra careful going thru Waldo Beherenow. Were those speed limit changes on rt 301? Don't remember seein' em.

PC

Cavie seems in the know better than I am. I haven't been over to Waldo since we first got here, following it in the papers.
Seems there is a flea market on weekends, and folks were walking across the highway, and reduced speed and close monitoring made sense. Unfortunately it expanded to 24/7, for the revenue, not safety.
I am a law abiding hot-rodder, and push the speed limits.
I save that for the open road secondary's, not towns or interstates.
I haven't had any tickets in over 10 years, but walk a fine line.
From my experience, some roads never see state or county LEO (law enforcement officer), others on a regular basis.
Waldo is still closely watched, as I read about it.

Any general advice about Florida LEO from cavie would be appreciated.

 

[cavie]

The problem with Waldo is that you have no time to just slow down before then is yet another drop in speed limit. When you see a speed sign, hit the brakes. Waldo does not issue warning tickets.

The police dept has been disbanded. CBS did a report in September of this year. 7 officers, 1,000 residents, $12,000.00 fines one year. Do a Google search. Fun reading.

PS. Stay away from Stark and Baldwin

now that's a sign!

 

[DTR 11TG]

The problem with Waldo is that you have no time to just slow down before then is yet another drop in speed limit. When you see a speed sign, hit the brakes. Waldo does not issue warning tickets.

The police dept has been disbanded. CBS did a report in September of this year. 7 officers, 1,000 residents, $12,000.00 fines one year. Do a Google search. Fun reading.

PS. Stay away from Stark and Baldwin

now that's a sign!

$12,000.00 didn't sound like much of a speed trap so I googled it, now $400,000.00 really does sound like a speed trap.

"Waldo's seven police officers wrote nearly 12,000 speeding tickets last year, collecting more than $400,000 in fines - a third of the town's revenue."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-towns-notorious-speed-traps-under-investigation/

 

[cavie]

$12,000.00 didn't sound like much of a speed trap so I googled it, now $400,000.00 really does sound like a speed trap.

"Waldo's seven police officers wrote nearly 12,000 speeding tickets last year, collecting more than $400,000 in fines - a third of the town's revenue."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-towns-notorious-speed-traps-under-investigation/

Yep! my bad.