State Road 710 was supposed to be a quiet rural connector. Instead, a two-lane stretch in Martin County has become notorious, with the local sheriff now blasting it as a “death trap” as fatal wrecks mount and patience for slow-moving road projects runs thin.
Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek says the narrow corridor has turned into a dangerous mix of cars, big rigs and farm equipment, where risky passing and big speed differences are a fact of daily life. The once sleepy route is now a road many locals say they dread.
In the first two weeks of January, six people were killed in separate crashes along SR 710 in Martin County, according to CBS12. The station reports Budensiek described at least one of the recent wrecks as “horrific” and said deputies are seeing both reckless passing and major speed discrepancies on the highway. Local drivers and county officials argue that minor fixes will not cut it without a full-blown expansion.
Project Size And Timeline
State transportation planners have had a four-lane rebuild of SR 710 on the books for years, but the price tag and permitting have kept the project crawling forward instead of racing ahead. A WPTV report puts the estimated cost of widening the road between Indiantown and Okeechobee at roughly $170 million and notes that not all the money is lined up yet…