Statesville Boulevard stoplight axed
BY MARK WINEKA
SALISBURY POST |
|
|
City engineers say a traffic light is not warranted on Statesville Boulevard over a
mile-long stretch that divides the Meadowbrook and Milford Hills neighborhoods.
The accident and injury rates on this busy section of Statesville Boulevard are below the
state averages, staff members told Salisbury City Council on Tuesday. Reports added that
sight distances are adequate at intersections and the 45 mph is appropriate, though often
violated.
The traffic study for Statesville Boulevard follows a request by Elizabeth W. Smith of
Woodleaf for a traffic light at Meadowbrook Road. Smith suffered a serious neck injury in
an accident near the intersection April 27, then had complications from lupus after her
surgery that hospitalized her for roughly three weeks.
She made her request for a traffic light in a videotape from her hospital bed June 1.
Smith has returned home and said this morning that it's irresponsible for the city
"not to do something substantive in the entire area,'' whether it be a stoplight or
removing a hill that she contends leads to an excessively high number of rear-end
collisions such as hers.
Meanwhile, council members decided Tuesday to ask the Salisbury Police Department for a
three-month period of intensive enforcement of the 45 mph speed limit on this section of
Statesville Boulevard.
Council said it also will hold a public meeting with residents in this area after that
three-month period. Councilman Scott Maddox expressed concern that a straightforward
traffic study, while providing good information, tends to ignore what people are telling
council.
"We don't do a people study,'' he said. "We have two neighborhoods out there
that say they need a stoplight.''
Maddox added that the traffic question was an emotional issue, especially for anyone
involved in a wreck. And even if convenience is more the issue than safety, Maddox said,
citizens sometimes feel council isn't listening to them when it receives something such as
a traffic study and leaves it at that.
"It is very important that a public forum be held,'' Smith told the Post this
morning.
Mayor Susan Kluttz agreed that maybe council should take into consideration more than a
traffic study and hear what citizens in two important neighborhoods are saying.
With increasing traffic on Statesville Boulevard, it is getting more dangerous for cars to
make left turns from Meadowbrook and Milford Hills, she said.
Engineer Wendy Brindle said Statesville Boulevard has an "85 percentile speed'' of 52
mph. A road is considered ideal if 85 percent of the traffic travels at the posted speed
limit -- in this case, 45 mph.
During a recent study, speeds ranged from 38 to 60 mph, Brindle said.
Statesville Boulevard has a 24-hour traffic volume of 17,000 vehicles, up from 14,000 in
1995. Meadowbrook Drive sees 1,300 cars a day.
Over this mile section of Statesville Boulevard from January 1994 to April 1999, 68
accidents occurred. The state average for four-lane highways is 2.98 accidents per 1
million vehicle miles.
This study area of Statesville Boulevard came in below the state average at 2.5 accidents
per million vehicle miles, Brindle said.
The state average for injuries per million vehicle miles is 1.3; the study area's average
was again lower at 1.19.
Brindle said 38 of the 68 accidents involved rear-end collisions, but that was consistent
with an accident pattern on U.S. 70 all the way to Statesville. Of the 68 accidents in
five years, only nine would have been correctable by a signal over the whole mile, Brindle
said. No more than three of those accidents happened at any particular intersection.
Brindle also reported that available stopping sight distances were adequate for eastbound
traffic approaching Meadowbrook Road on Statesville Boulevard.
Police Chief Chris Herring said his officers will focus on the aggressive drivers on
Statesville Boulevard in coming months.
"We can reduce speed, long term, using enforcement,'' Herring said. "That's not
eliminating (the speeding problem).''
Councilman William "Pete'' Kennedy said he thought speed on Statesville Boulevard is
a significant issue to be addressed.
Councilman Bill Burgin said that as traffic increases on Statesville Boulevard, the
inconvenience of getting onto Statesville Boulevard from the neighborhoods heightens.
"That particular neighborhood doesn't have many options,'' Burgin said. "The
neighborhood's going to be in a box pretty soon.''
In recommending against a traffic light at Statesville Boulevard and Meadowbrook Drive,
Brindle said Statesville Boulevard is a major thoroughfare with a purpose of moving
traffic through town.
One 35-year Statesville Boulevard resident who lives near the intersection told council
Tuesday that he was against a light at the intersection.
"A traffic light would back up traffic in front of his house and block his driveway,'
he said, adding, "If you have a light, you're going to have a problem.'' |
|
|
|
|
Today's Paper
