Traffic moves through Pemberton Square Boulevard and Halls Ferry Road. Vicksburg Police Department records show that 37 motor vehicle accidents happened at the intersection from January 2001 to May 2002, the most of any other intersection in the city. (The Vicksburg Post/C. Todd Sherman)

FIVE WORST

The five Vicksburg locations with the highest number of motor vehicle accidents from January 2001 to May 2002:

1. Halls Ferry Road/Pemberton Square Boulevard 37

2. Clay Street/Mission 66 36

3. Halls Ferry Road/ North Frontage Road 28

4. U.S. 61 South/ Warrenton Road 27

5. Clay Street/Hope Street 21

5. South Frontage Road/ Indiana Avenue 21

Source: Vicksburg Police Department

[11/25/02]More wrecks happen at other city intersections, but the Vicksburg Police Department’s top traffic officer ranks a highway crossing in the southern part of town the city’s riskiest place for drivers.

U.S. 61 South and Warrenton Road, a Y-shaped intersection, placed fourth on a list of the worst five intersections in terms of the number of crashes, Vicksburg Police Department records show. The traffic division’s Lt. David Beard said it’s worse because it’s different from the other intersections on the list.

“I realize there is a higher number of accidents elsewhere,” Beard said. “But this is a highway and your speed is going to be higher. If you’ll notice, it’s the only intersection on the list that is not controlled by a traffic signal.”

The intersection is about three miles south of I-20. Northbound cars leaving U.S. 61 must cross southbound lanes. Traffic entering from Warrenton can go south only, but that means pulling out into highway traffic.

“People have claimed visibility is a problem there,” Beard said. “It’s not a problem. The rule of thumb for 61 South and Warrenton is that if you can see a car, you don’t pull out in front of it,” he said. “Speed’s probably not a factor. Just about everybody we’ve talked to who’s been in an accident there has said they were doing between 40 and 50.” The speed limit on both roads there is 45 mph.

The count covers a 17-month period beginning with January 2001 and may not reflect state Department of Transportation changes at U.S. 61 and Warrenton. During the summer, flashing yellow lights were added to southbound highway traffic lanes, warning of crossing vehicles ahead.

As for the rest of the list, the high ranking of the intersection at Clay and Hope streets came as a surprise to Beard.

“Probably most of those accidents are people turning into businesses in between (Vicksburg National Military Park) and Hope Street in traffic, or vehicles striking from the rear,” Beard said. The reports identify the nearest intersection and wrecks may have occurred in the vicinity and not directly at the crossing.

Beard also said some of the wrecks may involve westbound vehicles turning left onto Hope Street to follow Baldwin Ferry to the area of Vicksburg and Warren Central junior high schools.

Otherwise, Beard said people trying to beat traffic signals or making right turns on red signals with insufficient caution contributed to many of the wrecks at the top two intersections on the list, Halls Ferry Road at Pemberton Square Boulevard and Clay Street at Mission 66.

“There’s just such a high volume of traffic going through there,” he said of the No. 1 spot, which handles much of the traffic to and from Pemberton Square mall. The count for that intersection could also include some wrecks on either side of Pemberton Square Boulevard, he said.

Of the large number of accidents at Halls Ferry and North Frontage roads, many could involve people turning against traffic, Beard said.

“If you’re going east on North Frontage Road, there’s no protected turn,” he said. “However, people just take it for granted that when the light’s green they can go whichever direction without having to look.”

Commenting on the intersection of South Frontage Road and Indiana Avenue’s making the list, Beard said the reasons may have been similar to the other frontage-road intersections. Accidents there tend to involve people trying to beat a traffic signal or make an unprotected left turn.