Protestors Demand Action on Intersection
By Mary Perez, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.
Nov. 17–SAUCIER — They want a traffic light at the dangerous intersection of U.S. 49 and Mississippi 67, but if it can’t be installed immediately, protestors Friday demanded the Mississippi Department of Transportation do something to slow traffic near Saucier Elementary School.
Spurred by yet another fatal traffic accident last week, about 30 Saucier residents waved signs and flashed a model traffic signal as trucks and cars raced by on the four-lane highway. Drivers honked in support of the protestors but didn’t noticeably slow until the Mississippi Highway Patrol arrived.
Sgt. Marty Davis clocked drivers slowing to about 63 miles per hour in a 65-mph zone when they spotted his car. He said officers frequently write speeding tickets on that portion of the road.
There have been 42 accidents at the intersection in the last four years and Saucier resident Brenda Bothwell said that includes students and teachers who were killed or injured.
Southern District Transportation Commissioner Wayne Brown told the Sun Herald that MDOT has begun the engineering studies for a light at the location, but he won’t make a final decision until the Mississippi 67 interchange north of the school is complete in March.
“(Brown) is the only one who can change this,” said Cynthia Fairley of Saucier, who has three children at Saucier Elementary and two more who transfer buses there to go to Harrison Central. She wants a “children playing” sign, a strobe light or a reduced speed to protect the children on the playground 50 feet from U.S. 49.
“I think that they should have a school zone like they have at Harrison Central,” said Harrison County Supervisor Connie Rockco, who stopped to talk to the protestors.
Traffic coming too fast around the curve north of the school on U.S. 49 doesn’t have time to slow for the school buses and traffic turning or crossing the highway. It’s especially bad in the morning when teachers and children are arriving at school at the same time commuters are heading to work. A bank and post office to the north and a nearby church and Head Start school add traffic to the area.
“This is a deadly section to have this much speed and this much traffic,” said Dorothy Elaine Parker, a member of the Concerned Citizens of Saucier.
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