Law enforcement and emergency officers work to remove the body of Carrie Williams after a fatal wreck on Culkin Road at U.S. 61 North Wednesday afternoon. (The Vicksburg Post/MELANIE DUNCAN)

[03/29/01] A Hinds County woman died Wednesday afternoon in a two-vehicle wreck at the Culkin Road and U.S. 61 North.

Carrie L. Williams, 76, 5620 Shaw Road, Jackson, was pronounced dead at the scene by Warren County Deputy Coroner Larry Chisley.

Williams was not wearing a seat belt.

The wreck occurred around 4 p.m. as Williams, who was driving a Chevrolet Cavalier, was pulling out of Culkin Road onto U.S. 61 North, Mississippi Highway Patrol officer James Gray said. A Louisiana man was driving a Chevrolet Corsica north on the highway and crashed into the driver’s door of the Cavalier, Gray said.

The Corsica flipped, and both cars came to a stop in the median.

The driver of the Corsica, Devin A. Tipton, 23, of Monterey, La., was treated and released from ParkView Regional Medical Center, a hospital spokesman said.

U.S. 61 North, from Interstate 20 to Mississippi 3 at Redwood, is one of the area’s fastest-growing stretches, and it and the traffic along are expected to boom as River Region builds and opens its new hospital less than a mile north of the intersection with Culkin Road.

The number of vehicles traveling along the strip where Williams died is about 20,000 daily, according to traffic counts by the Mississippi Department of Transportation. The area is also home to three banks, Sherman Avenue Elementary and other businesses.

Warren County Coroner John Thomason said the intersection is becoming more dangerous as traffic in the area increases.

“I’m going to write the state highway department and urge them to do something with that intersection,” he said.

U.S. 61 is a state-maintained highway and does not fall under the jurisdiction of Warren County or the Warren County Sheriff’s Department. Officials with MDOT have talked about plans to improve the area including the addition of frontage roads, but no dates have been set.

“With the increased traffic, we’re seeing an increased number of accidents,” said Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace. “It’s a bad intersection.”

Williams was the third person killed in a wreck this year in Warren County.

Carl Brower of Yazoo City died Jan. 29 after the pickup he was driving collided with an 18-wheeler on Mississippi Highway 3, and Kelvin D. Watson, 28, 151 Pittman Road, was killed Feb. 11 while crossing Washington Street.

George Spratley, 24, 3785 Flowers Hill Road, was later charged in Watson’s death.