October Brings Another Traffic Fatality In Walton County

September was a bad month for Walton County residents with regard to traffic fatalities. In total, there were seven people killed in traffic accidents who were either from Walton County or died in Walton County – and October doesn’t appear to be getting any better.

Georgia State Patrol reports a Monroe man died on Gratis Road when his pickup truck left the roadway in a curve and hit a tree just after 11 p.m. Oct. 4.

“The fatality was Michael James Brownlow, age 58, from Monroe,” said Gordy Wright, public information officer for GSP. “It was not alcohol related and his seat belt was not in use.”

It is not clear why there has been a rash of fatalities of late, especially since the accidents were all at different locations and not all were in Walton County. , of Monroe died in an accident on Broadnax Mill Road in Loganville, followed by was killed in an ATV accident that same afternoon in Monroe. was killed in an accident on Highway 11 in Monroe and the following day Walton County was killed when his motorcycle was hit by a suspected drunk driver in Hall County. On the last day of died in a single car accident on Sharon Church Road in Loganville and the latest fatality was on Gratis Road in Monroe.

The only fatality that garnered comments from residents about the dangers of the particular location was the one on Highway 11 that resulted in the death of Moore, the 79-year-old man from Loganville who was reportedly on the way to visit his wife in a Monroe nursing home when he was killed. Motorists have complained that the intersection backs up onto Highway 78 between 4:30 and 5 p.m. because of the difficulty turning left onto Highway 11 from the northbound exit ramp. Some question why there is a and not at that intersection, since it is a much more congested.

Teri Pope, spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Transportation said the reason is simple - the Highway 11 intersection doesn’t meet the necessary “warrants” for a traffic light.

“The intersection in Between met the warrants so a signal was installed,” Pope said. “Congestion isn’t the issue.”

Criteria for traffic light

Pope said the criteria for signalizing an intersection is based on the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).

‘The MUTCD is the nationally adopted policy document published by the Federal Highway Administration and all states follow it’s guidance,” Pope said. “The MUTCD establishes the warrants, or justifications, needed to be met before signalization can be considered. The primary warrants (there are 9 total) are driven by traffic volumes. Based on lane configurations (i.e., the number of lanes on the main road and the intersecting road), there are different thresholds of traffic volumes that must be met. The most significant warrant is the 8-hour warrant. This warrant requires that these significant traffic volumes must be sustained for a minimum of 8 hours in a day. This is probably the most telling of all the warrants on the need for signalization. The number of trucks is not a consideration as they are considered a part of the daily traffic volumes.”

Pope said the number of crashes required for a traffic signal is a common misconception of a signal warrant. The crash experience is evaluated based on the type of crash, not the severity of the crash.

“There is a type of crash, an angle crash, that is considered correctable by signalization and you must show that five correctable crashes have occurred in the previous 12 months,” Pope said. “However, the crash experience also requires several other components be complied with (such as trial of alternative measures and adequate enforcement) before it is considered sufficient to satisfy the crash warrant.”

Highway 11 at Highway 78 offramp intersections do not meet warrants

Pope said according to data kept for the intersection where Moore was killed, between Jan. 1, 2009 and Sept. 26, 2011 (not including the Sept. 23 fatality), there were three crashes at that intersection, two of them correctible with the installation of a traffic signal.

“Basically only angle crashes when one vehicles hits the other in the side. Rear end crashes are not correctable with a signal. DUI crashes or vehicles hitting a deer are not correctable. This takes the apples out and allows a comparison of the oranges or crashes that would be fixed by a signal if the signal was followed correctly,” Pope said, adding the westbound ramp had six crashes, also with only two correctible. “These numbers do not meet the warrant about accidents.”

Pope said the county did request traffic lights at both those intersections in 2005, but the request was declined and there are no future plans for traffic lights at those intersections.

“The county is working of the extension of SR 138 also, known as Charlotte Rowell Blvd, up to SR 11. When built, that project will take most of the left turning traffic from 78 exit ramps,” Pope said. “Since the current situation doesn’t meet warrants, with less traffic it certainly wouldn’t meet the minimum requirements. Charlotte Rowell Blvd is a 1.5-mile long roadway. Right of way acquisition is under way now and we expect to let the project for bid in spring of 2012. Construction would begin next summer.”