(The following story by Sarah Fay Campbell appeared on The Times-Herald website on August 21.)
NEWNAN, Ga. — As work proceeds to improve the intersection of U.S. 29 and Weldon Road at rail tracks in north Coweta County, a new study by the Citizens for Rail Safety and the University of Kentucky finds that the crossing is the seventh most accident-prone in the nation.
The CRS and University of Kentucky Study used accident data from 2000 to 2005 to make the rankings. There were rankings of the most accident-prone crossings, as well as the most deadly. The Weldon crossing didn’t make the top 20 list of the most deadly crossings.
It’s not just the trains that make the intersection dangerous, either.
Weldon at U.S. 29 is one of Coweta’s top three most dangerous intersections, said Lt. John LaChance, head of the traffic division of the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office.
“It’s number one for our most violent crashes,” he said. He feels that Interstate 85 is the county’s most violent road, overall.
At Weldon and U.S. 29 “normally when we have crashes, it’s pretty violent,” he said. “It’s a vehicle versus a train, or someone turning left in front of someone who is going 55 mph. There’s a lot higher chance of someone getting seriously injured,” he said. And many of those accidents involve a large vehicle, such as a dump truck, versus a passenger vehicle.
The reasons that the intersection is so dangerous include the configuration of the turn lanes, which cause some visibility problems and “people being inpatient,” LaChance said.
“Once they put that red-light up, that will help,” he said. “And revamping the intersection is really going to help,” he said.
“But we will still have accidents there, because people are not paying attention,” LaChance said. “Just like we still have accidents at 29 and Ga. Hwy. 154. There’s no full solution to it, because not everyone is always paying attention,” he said.
The intersection improvements, which will include turn lanes in all directions, a traffic light, and crossing gates with lights and whistles, should be complete by the end of September.
The project was initially supposed to be complete July 30. Problems with utility relocation led to some delays.
The contract has been extended until Jan. 31, 2008, but the expected completion date is Sept. 30, weather permitting, said Kimberly Larson, spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Transportation. The contractor, Baldwin Paving Company, “is working very diligently to complete the project,” she said.
Crews from Bass Signal were out last week, installing the strain poles and cables for the traffic light. Work is ongoing on a retaining wall for the right-turn lane for those going southbound on U.S. 29.
Crews from CSX railroad will be out soon to widen the crossing to accommodate the turn lanes.
Information on how long the crossing might be closed to accommodate that widening, and detour plans, could not be gotten from CSX, despite repeated requests over the past month.
Crews from CSX were at the crossing last week, Larson said, working in the signal cabinet.
The intersection improvement had been planned for years, but was initially supposed to be a few more years off.
It was moved up in priority because of the many accidents.
The DOT’s general office maintains accident information, said Larson and “we use the information when developing and recommending projects,” Larson said.
“Accidents are a major factor, the frequency, number and type can affect scheduling and implementation of a project,” she said.
“For Weldon Road, like many other projects, we used all of the factors to develop the scope and schedule for that project.”