An intersection on U.S. 65 in southeast Arkansas will be realigned to give motorists improved sight lines and reduce the likelihood of deadly crashes that have occurred there over the years.
The cost, estimated to be $500,000 to $750,000, will be worth it, according to people who live and work in the area of the highway's intersection with Arkansas 35 in north Chicot County.
"It's bad, but it's been bad ever since [my parents] moved here in the mid-'70s," said Dwayne Perry, who operates the Amish and Country Store, which is at the intersection.
Perry witnessed the latest fatal crash, which took the life of 88-year-old Jessie Yee of Dermott on July 17 and severely injured the driver, Peter Yee, 58, also of Dermott.
Peter Yee was eastbound on Arkansas 35 with his mother in a 2009 Toyota when he failed to yield at the intersection, according to a preliminary fatal crash summary the Arkansas State Police posted on its website. Their car was struck by a 2011 Nissan pickup driven by 54-year-old William C. Salaun of Covington, La. The pickup was traveling south on U.S. 65.
Kenny Gobar, executive director of the nearby Yellow Bend Port, travels through the intersection frequently both as a driver and as a cyclist.
"I see a lot of people stop and look and for some reason not see oncoming traffic," he said. "I don't know if it's the design or what. There's some kind of problem there."
Gobar and his family take extra precautions.
"We look both ways several times before we cross," he said.
A study recommending realigning the intersection began about a year ago at the request of Robert Moore Jr., a member of the Arkansas Highway Commission from Arkansas City.
The intersection involves the four-lane U.S. 65, where daily traffic ranges from 5,000 to 6,600 vehicles, and two-lane Arkansas 35, which averages from 600 to 1,400 vehicles per day. Traffic has seasonal variations due to agriculture commodities being transported to Yellow Bend Port, a slack-water harbor on the Mississippi River to the east, according to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.
A five-year crash analysis covering the years 2008 to 2012 found a total of 18 crashes at the intersection, three of which involved a fatality or serious injury. Thirteen of the crashes involved angle collisions in which a vehicle on Arkansas 35 was crossing U.S. 65 and was struck by a vehicle on U.S. 65.
Since 2012, there have been five additional crashes that resulted in a fatality or serious injury or both, according to Jessie Jones, who heads the department's transportation planning and policy division. Three of those five crashes also were angle collisions, she said.
Department engineers focused on the unusually skewed angle of the intersection, which is at about 70 degrees. Most intersections are at 90-degree angles.
They said similarly angled intersections in Arkansas that were realigned to 90-degree angles have seen a reduction in crashes because "the realignment resulted in a reduction in the distance that a driver's field of vision is obscured by the vehicle's passenger side A-pillar," according to a Nov. 24, 2014, memorandum from the department's state maintenance engineer at the time, Tony Sullivan.
Sullivan, who now is the assistant chief engineer for operations, was recommending a study to see if the realignment would be justified.
The realignment might prevent crashes such as the April 30, 2011, crash that claimed the life of 62-year-old Ronnie Polk of Lake Village.
He was eastbound on Arkansas 35 in a 1991 Chevrolet S10 pickup truck, failed to yield at U.S. 65 and was hit by a tractor-trailer rig traveling north on U.S. 65, according to a preliminary report from the state police. Polk's pickup spun around and was struck by another northbound tractor-trailer rig, the report said.
Jones said realigning intersections is effective, pointing to the intersection of Arkansas 7 and Arkansas 206 in Boone County. It had skewed angle, daily traffic count and other characteristics similar to the Chicot County intersection before it was realigned to a 90-degree angle intersection.
A 36-month before-and-after intersection analysis found the number of crashes fell from 13, including three involving fatalities or serious injury, before the realignment to three, none of which involved a fatality or serious injury, after the realignment, she said.
"The results of the safety study determined that the realignment of this intersection would increase safety for motorists," Moore said. "Realigning the intersection to 90 degrees will increase driver visibility, resulting in a safer intersection and fewer accidents at this location."
The commission formally authorized the department to begin preparing the project for construction last month. Perry, the store owner, said surveyors were at the intersection Thursday.
The project is eligible for federal money set aside for safety improvements. The department said design, plans and constructions "will begin as soon as funds become available."
Metro on 10/12/2015