Intersection getting strobes, warning signs
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, September 30, 2003
[9/30/03]Flashing warning signs and strobe lights atop the stop signal are planned for U.S. 61 North and Sherman Avenue, a Mississippi Department of Transportation official said.
Travelers along the 2 1/2 miles of the highway north of Interstate 20 should see changes there in next month, MDOT District Engineer Walter Lyons said Monday.
The rapidly developing strip is the scene of many wrecks due to the heavy traffic load and the number of intersections and driveway access locations. Major wrecks, including a fatal accident, have occurred this month on the highway between River Region Medical Center and Sherman Avenue Elementary.
About a fourth of the strip north of I-20 is in the city limits. The rest is under state jurisdiction.
MDOT engineers will also be measuring drivers’ speeds in the area and lower limits will be considered, Lyons said.
The MDOT will add “signal-ahead” signs with flashers to both sides of the highway for drivers on U.S. 61 approaching Sherman Avenue from the north and south, Lyons said. They will be placed about 500 to 750 feet from the intersection in both directions.
Strobe-light-enhanced red lights, like the one on U.S. 61 South at Pemberton/Iowa Avenue, will be installed for drivers on U.S. 61 approaching Sherman Avenue from both directions, Lyons said.
“It’s to draw attention to it and make sure you can see this thing from a far distance,” he said.
An electronic sign that displays individual radar measurements of drivers’ speeds will also be placed in the area temporarily, beginning this week, Lyons said.
“We’ll run it several days or a week,” Lyons said. “We’ll leave it out there long enough to get people used to it.”
Such radar speed-limit signs have proved effective in lowering drivers’s speeds, something MDOT officials have said is necessary along that stretch of road.
Lyons’ announcement followed one the previous week from MDOT traffic-signal engineer Eddie Robinson that the duration of the green light for drivers leaving Sherman Avenue had been lengthened. Previously 6 to 15 seconds, the duration is now 8 to 20 seconds, he said.
The Sept. 16 wreck in which Rory Allen Roberson, 52, was killed was attributed to a southbound tractor-trailer that ran a red light and was not related to the intersection’s design, state officials have said.
In addition to the traffic signals at Sherman Avenue, 1.6 miles north of I-20, there are others at Bowie Road, 2 miles north of the interstate.