Have you traveled the route via car at a similar time you would normally be riding it? The traffic might be very light at that time of the day and it would be good to be familiar with the terrain and the intersections and how to handle them. My route to work is 20 miles one way and the main road I ride on is VERY busy, especially when I leave work. I drove the route a lot. I refuse to ride to work during the week because it gets dark and this road is very dangerous, but on the weekends where I get off work early when there's still light, I'll ride. As for the dangerous part of town that I have to ride through, I've never had a problem so far and since it's also heavily traveled, I feel safe with others around me.
I rode home with a coworker who's route was through one of the worst parts of Orlando, which was just named one of the worst parts in the country. We had a guy yell at his pitbull (that was without a leash and there was no fence) to "chase" and then 5 feet later some kids just darted out at us yelling at the top of their lungs. We ran 2 red lights without thinking of it (which I never do). I never ever ever will ride that route again.