The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to install lighting at a dangerous intersection on Highway 69, and it will ask the Mississippi Department of Transportation to consider doing the same for two other intersections.
District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith raised the issue during Tuesday’s board meeting, saying constituents who live near the Highway 69-Pickensville Road intersection south of Columbus have complained to him about how dark it is there at night. Smith said there’s already a light pole in place, but there is not currently any light. The county would have to contract with 4-County Electric Power Association to provide power for the light.
“It’s very dark, and very dangerous,” Smith said. “With the volume of traffic out there, some of the citizens out there have called and asked if there’s any way we can put a light out on that pole.”
Smith, in an interview with The Dispatch after Tuesday’s meeting, said the intersection is dangerous at night because it’s located on a curve in the highway. At night, it’s difficult to see the curve, he said, and people sometimes drive off the road.
That problem has become a bigger concern in recent years due growth along the Highway 69 corridor, Smith said.
“It’s started developing over the years, mostly because of the growth out there,” he said. “There’s so much more in that area than there was years ago. Now the traffic out there is probably as busy as it is on any of the main highways in the area and that’s really creating problems for a lot of the older members of the community.”
According to a MDOT traffic volume map, portions of Highway 69 near the intersection saw 5,000 to 7,500 vehicles per day in 2015.
Supervisors voted 4-0 to pay for the lighting, which should only cost $96 per year. District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.
Other areas
Smith’s request prompted other supervisors to raise concerns about two other poorly lit roads in the county.
Board President Harry Sanders said the Highway 12-Military Road intersection is problematic at night.
“After dark, you can’t see it,” Sanders told the Dispatch. “Anybody that’s trying to turn off of Highway 12 onto Military Road, it’s just invisible. It’s not safe.”
Sanders said the intersection, which is near Columbus Christian Academy and several churches, sees heavy traffic.
Supervisors also discussed the Highway 82-Highway 45 intersection west of Columbus as another problem spot, particularly for eastbound traffic heading toward the city.
They asked County Engineer Robert Calvert to ask MDOT about providing light for both intersections. He said they’re not seeking any physical changes to the intersections, only lighting improvements for night travel.
“Since both of those are state highways, I would think it’s the state responsibility to light the intersections,” he said.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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