Dangerous crossing gets MDOT attention

By: THERESE APEL, DAILY LEADER Staff Writer

Photo By THERESE APEL The number of stop signs at the dangerous intersection of Highway 84 and Jackson-Liberty Drive tripled Monday after crews put out four new signs, some with blinking lights. Officials said the stop signs are in addition to scheduled landscaping changes, and that they hope people will exercise extreme caution when navigating the intersection.

It is the first thing I say every morning is, 'Dear Lord, please keep them safe at that intersection,'" Adams said. "It's been a concern of mine for a long time, because we go that way going to church, and we take our grand daughter to different functions out that way. It's just dangerous, and it really affects that little community out there."

Mississippi Department of Transportation officials have taken notice, as is most recently evident Monday when four new stop signs with blinking lights were added on Jackson-Liberty Road on either side of Highway 84.

The work triples the number of stop signs at the intersection that has been the site of numerous accidents, including some fatal, over the years. The new signs will require north- and southbound motorists to stop in the median as they cross the four-lane highway.

Additional safety efforts are under way, MDOT officials said.

"We're fixing to do a project to raise the grade of that dip out there and do some different striping," said District Construction Engineer Ken Morris. "I do know the district engineer got them to put some stop signs with blinking lights up on the local roads, just as another thing to get everyone's attention."

Morris also said some of the embankment on the north side of the intersection will be cut away to make the western horizon more visible, and that bids on the project to raise the grade of the infamous "dip" just before the intersection on Highway 84 eastbound should be awarded sometime close to the end of October. He said that has been an ongoing project since 63-year-old Janice Allen was killed in a midday accident at Laird's Crossing on May 12.

"I know they've done a petition, too, but we were in the process of doing something out there, got the survey done after the fatality earlier in the summer," he said. "Our traffic engineers went out and looked at it since the petition and all that, and did another analysis."

Meanwhile, the petition, spearheaded by Zetus Volunteer Fire Department officials, picked up steam on its own, garnering almost 8,000 signatures at last count. Some see the petition interest as proof that community members besides Adams are feeling the need to stop the loss of life at the dangerous crossing.

Zetus Fire Chief Dale Anding said he's still hearing feedback from West Lincoln residents who want to see progress.

"They're all saying that they still want something done, they don't want any more lives lost," he said, adding that the new stop signs are a real encouragement. "I hope it works, and I hope what we've done so far has gotten everyone's attention. I hate to say it, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens."

And MDOT Southern District Commissioner Wayne Brown said while statistics still do not merit a four-way stop at the intersection, the new signs should call attention to the need to proceed with caution.

"I just want something to happen there where it can be safer," he said. "I've been through that intersection, and if you'll stop and look and be very careful, it's not an impossible thing to navigate that intersection carefully."

Brown said the decision not to add a four-way stop is one that officials have thought over carefully.

"If people will pay attention, hopefully these stop signs will make it easier on them. Hopefully they will come to a complete stop," he said. "Four-way stops don't eliminate fatalities ... if they did we'd have thousands of them everywhere."