Commuters cautiously head back to their jobs

Commuters heading back to work Monday for the first time since Charley hit maneuvered through Central Florida’s obstacle course of debris, detours and dysfunctional traffic lights without too many problems.

From U.S. Highway 192 in Kissimmee to East Colonial Drive in Orange County to U.S. Highway 17-92 through Seminole County, traffic flowed slowly, but fairly smoothly.

Interstate 4 and the region’s toll roads also appeared to be glitch-free. Drivers on the East-West Expressway (State Road 408) got an extra day’s reprieve from tolls.

“It wasn’t too bad,” said Gene Blackford, who made several trips between his home off Goldenrod Road near Curry Ford Road and a work site downtown, where he was helping shore up a building damaged by Charley.

“The weekend was a lot worse because you had no lights on and they weren’t directing traffic as much, and a lot more streets had debris,” Blackford said.

Monday also was lighter on crashes than the weekend, and most of them were fender benders, said Trooper Kim Miller, a spokeswoman for the Florida Highway Patrol.

Still, impatience and occasional tempers flared.

“There are a lot of people who were impatient. If you’re at an intersection without an operating traffic signal, and it’s unmanned and you stop, you see cars try to steer around you and go through. And some people blow right through,” she said.

Around the area, almost anyone with a badge, from FHP troopers to Florida Department of Agriculture officers, were directing traffic at major intersections -- but it was never enough.

Monday, 81 Orlando traffic signals still were not operating, and police were directing traffic at about a fifth of those. Orange County, which reported 60 percent of its traffic signals still out, and other counties saw similar patterns.

“We haven’t had a real problem with anything out of the ordinary because people are being a little more cautious,” said Sgt. Brian Gilliam, spokesman for the Orlando Police Department.

Lynx buses ran a full schedule and carried a normal load, though they couldn’t get everywhere because of debris-blocked streets, particularly around John Young Parkway and Oak Ridge Road. And many didn’t stay on schedule because of the failed traffic signals. Still, no one called to complain, said Linda Watson, the executive director of Lynx. “That’s real good,” she said.

Melissa Harris of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Scott Powers can be reached at spowers@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5441.