Polk County looking into ways to make dangerous curve on Dietz Road safer

BARTOW,Fla. - As a Former Bartow Police Chief, Tony Sparks was used to dangerous workplace situations.

But his home isn’t especially safe either.

He was walking across his front yard recently when a truck missed a sharp left turn on Dietz Road and hopped the protective barricade he had built in his front yard. It careened across his property, just missing him, and smashed into his truck.

"I could hear him coming, but I didn’t know which way to jump," Sparks told Fox 13.

It was a hair-raising experience but not an especially surprising one.

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His wife says, so many people have missed that turn over the years. It is hard to count them all.

Broken guard rail by Dietz Road

"It is a regular occurrence," Judy Sparks said. You may come out here and find headlights, bumpers, tail lights."

Her husband put up a makeshift barricade of metal and telephone poles, which stopped some vehicles from going further.

"If it weren’t for (the guardrail), they would be going through our house or (the house next door) or slamming into one of the kids," she commented.

The Sparks say they have contacted the county for help but still have the problem.

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After this latest near-death-defying event, Jay Jarvis, Polk County’s Director of Transportation and Drainage, says a solution may be closer than ever.

The County is looking into signage and other traffic devices to make drivers aware that the curve is up ahead and to slow down.