By Jessie Burchette
Salisbury Post
Carson High School will open later this month with a Rowan County Sheriff’s deputy directing peak-time traffic on N.C. 152 near the school.
The Rowan County Board of Commissioners agreed Monday evening to allocate $5,000 to pay an off-duty deputy to work the intersection of N.C. 152 and Kress Ventures Drive through Dec. 31. Carson is located on Kress Ventures Drive, a short distance off N.C. 152.
The board also agreed to a resolution asking the N.C. Department of Transportation to install a traffic light at the intersection by Dec. 31.
Commissioner Tina Hall, a former principal at Landis Elementary School, brought the issue and resolution to the board.
At the outset, Chairman Arnold Chamberlain appeared dead-set against the traffic light resolution or discussion.
Chamberlain said Pat Ivey, the division engineer, told the county in an e-mail that the N.C. Department of Transportation will not put a traffic signal at the intersection.
Chamberlain noted that neither county commissioners nor the China Grove Board of Aldermen install traffic lights and said, “We’re not going to tell DOT what to do.”
Hall cited calls, e-mails and personal appeals from parents and school officials who are concerned about the danger at the intersection.
At the outset of the meeting, a rising senior at Carson who gave her name as Alisha Kahn, appealed to the board. She said that when she first got her driver’s license nearly a year ago, she was afraid to drive to school for several weeks because of the traffic situation. She went on to cite several wrecks and scary situations.
“We’re teenagers. We have very little common sense. We need help,” she said, drawing laughter and praise for her candor.
Her grandmother, Barbara Welter, said students, staff, parents and others driving along N.C. 152 at peak hours are at risk. Welter asked how much a traffic light costs, suggesting that if money is the issue, she and other parents are willing to go door-to-door to raise the money.
Hall cited the comments from speakers as well as discussions with school officials. She said Carson Principal Henry Kluttz had been told variously that the state wouldn’t install a traffic signal because it doesn’t like where the school is located; because it doesn’t have the money; and because the traffic flow doesn’t justify a light.
Hall said a lot of the traffic on N.C. 152 is through traffic in which drivers aren’t aware of the school, including a large number of tractor-trailers.
Hall called for passage of the resolution to show that commissioners are concerned, and she asked for studies and collection of traffic data that could change the minds of highway officials.
Vice Chairman Chad Mitchell suggested the county put up $5,000 to hire an off-duty deputy to direct traffic. That idea drew immediate support and unanimous approval.
But Mitchell agreed to take restrictions off the funds when Sheriff George Wilhelm said he had already struck a deal with Gene Miller, assistant superintendent of Rowan-Salisbury Schools to pay for an off-duty officer. Both Wilhelm and Miller were seated on the back row during the meeting.
Wilhelm walked to the front of the room, asking about the safety of the deputy who will be in the middle of road.
He asked the board to let him use a portion of the $5,000 to buy strobe lights, signs, or other devices to warn oncoming traffic that there is a deputy directing traffic ahead.
Commissioners agreed to the sheriff’s request.
The state has lowered the speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph near the school entrance. Another option the county will look at is a further reduction to 35 mph.
The China Grove Board of Alderman unanimously approved an identical resolution on Tuesday night.
Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254 or jburchette @salisburypost.com.