MORE INJURIES AT JEFFERSON BYPASS INTERSECTION
The 11th multi-vehicle wreck this year at the intersection of Old Pendergrass Road and the Damon Gause Bypass in Jefferson happened last week on Dec. 6. Three people were injured in the crash, including one man who was ejected from a vehicle, shown here being taken to a nearby ambulance as rescue workers tend to another victim on the ground. Roan Lafayette Wall, Lavonia, was traveling south on the bypass when a vehicle driven by Matthew Mason Venable, Gainesville, reportedly pulled into his path and struck his vehicle. Wall’s van then spun and rolled over several times and the driver was thrown from the vehicle. A passenger in Wall’s car was also injured and Venable reported an arm injury. Venable was cited for failure to yield. Two patients were transported by ambulance to the hospital and one traveled to the hospital with a family member. See story on Page 3A about efforts to put a traffic signal at the intersection. Photo by Mike Buffington
How many more will it take?
EDITORIAL
DOT, Jefferson should move quickly to fix bypass ‘death trap’
Crushed cars and bleeding bodies continue to pile up at the intersection of Old Pendergrass Road and the Damon Gause Bypass in Jefferson.
Last week, three more people were injured in a bad wreck at what has become the most dangerous crossroads in Jackson County. Then again Tuesday, another wreck happened with one minor injury just as school let out for the day.
The numbers speak for themselves:
• 12 multi-vehicle wrecks at the intersection so far this year;
• Two deaths and 11 others injured in eight of these 2006 wrecks;
• 26 total vehicles involved in multi-car wrecks at the intersection.
And that’s just this year. A number of other wrecks have happened at this same intersection since the bypass opened in 2002. But despite ample evidence of a serious problem, nothing has been done to improve its public safety.
Now there’s a “study” being batted back-and-forth between the City of Jefferson and the Georgia Department of Transportation. But that appears to be little more than bureaucratic dancing between two flat-footed agencies.
And while bureaucrats shuffle papers, real people continue to have real wrecks and suffer real injuries and even death.
There’s blame aplenty to go around in this public safety fiasco. The Georgia DOT should have anticipated that this intersection would be a major issue when it designed the bypass. With three schools less than one-half mile away on Old Pendergrass Rd. and the growth happening farther west along the road, the intersection should have been designed and engineered for a traffic signal from the beginning.
The DOT did engineer signals a little farther down the bypass at the intersection of Hwy. 11 and in Arcade at the intersection of Old Hwy. 129. Obviously, someone gave thought to crossroad traffic before the bypass was built. Why they missed this important intersection isn’t clear. But it’s a state route and the DOT should make sure its roads are designed for safe public travel.
While the state failed to plan appropriately, the City of Jefferson is even more liable for the problems in the intersection.
It was the city that annexed land around the intersection and farther west on Old Pendergrass Rd.
It was the city that issued building permits for five new subdivisions on the west side of the bypass and two on the east side along Old Pendergrass Rd.
It was the city that issued permits for a massive commercial development at one corner of the intersection.
It was the city that continued to expand its public school facilities, all of which feed off Old Pendergrass Rd.
It was the city that bought land and built a large new recreation complex on Old Pendergrass Rd. just west of the bypass.
And it was the city that did all that without one iota of planning for how traffic would be handled at this intersection. No foresight. Nada. Zip.
Only after a public outcry earlier this year following a double-fatality wreck did the city get off its thumbs and officially ask the DOT for a traffic signal.
But the town is broke and leaders appear to be frightened of the cost of upgrading the intersection. The city could have worked with the developers of those subdivisions and commercial projects to cost-share upgrading the intersection — but the town’s leaders were asleep at the wheel and missed that opportunity.
Several weeks ago, the city sent its traffic study of the intersection to the DOT as the first step toward getting a traffic signal. Last week, the DOT kicked it back to the city’s consultants for more information.
So the bureaucratic paper dance continues. How many more people will have to get hurt, or possibly die, before the DOT and city move forward on making this a safer intersection?
Yes, it’s going to be expensive. Old Pendergrass Road will have to be widened on both sides to accommodate turning lanes. The traffic signal itself will have to be put into place. It won’t be cheap. The city will have to go further into debt to pay for it.
But there is no alternative. A large Kroger grocery store is slated to open at the intersection in the coming months. School traffic continues to grow, including busses loaded with kids that daily traverse this dangerous intersection. New homes are being built and sold in the area. The new recreation complex pulls hundreds of people across that dangerous crossroads.
Public safety should be the first order of business for any government, local or state. It is obvious that this intersection, as it was designed, is not safe. It is, in fact, a death trap.
No more excuses. It’s time for both the DOT and City of Jefferson leaders to make it happen. It should be THE priority for Jefferson officials and THE priority for the DOT in Northeast Georgia.
Every additional injury and every death will be more blood on their hands if they don’t fast-track a resolution to this very serious problem.
