FDOT studies widening Polk Co. road where deadly school bus crash happened

A stretch of Lucerne Park Road where two people were killed in Mondays deadly school bus crash was already under study by the Florida Department of Transportation for possible improvements when the fatal crash occurred.Arsenia Rodriguez lives just off Lucerne Park Road. She was walking her dog Monday when she saw ambulances responding to the crash.I was coming out walking my dog in the morning and I see the ambulance and everything and I was trying to figure out what was going on and until later on, I heard that it was about the school bus, Rodriguez said.Rodriguez says serious crashes are not unusual along the road.Thats not the first time theres been an accident. Every year, theres always a really bad accident, she said. A review of crossover crash data from Signal Four Analytics shows 11 crashes on the portion of S.R. 544 where the bus crash happened between 2021 and 2025, including one fatal crash.Maury Ashick, who lives off the road, says traffic is especially difficult in the mor