By Jean Cole
A construction company hopes to begin improving the intersection on U.S. 72 West and Hardy Road near Blue Springs Elementary School by the middle of next month.
A subcontractor for Pearce Construction Co. of Huntsville plans to begin extending a drainage line under 72 and then adding right- and left-hand turn lanes in the interaction to make it safer for traffic.
The company has already put up some construction warning signs and will put up cones, barrels with flashing lights and, if they have to stop traffic, flagmen, said Lewis Price, secretary/treasurer at Pearce.
“People will realize they are coming up on a construction area,” Price said.
Work in the intersection cannot begin until telephone, cable and water lines are moved.
“We’ve been ready since day one on this project,” Price said. “One of the very first things we did was apply for a permit (to make intersection improvements). Until very recently, we’ve been waiting for the state highway department (to approve the work). Now, the subcontractor is ready to start work but some utilities are in the way and need to be moved.”
Pearce recently wrote AT&T; a check to move the utilities and work should soon begin.
The intersection improvements — which include extending a drainage line under 72 and adding right- and left-hand turn lanes for safety — are expected to be completed before the new elementary school opens in 2010.
“Assuming the weather is good, we hope to start by the middle of next month and have the work done before the school opens,” Price said.
For motorist traveling 72 West, the improvements to the intersection cannot come soon enough. The four-way highway has no median and few left turn lanes, which results in frequent accidents along the roadway, including more than 30 deaths in 15 years.
Superintendent Dr. Barry Carroll asked ALDOT Director Joe McInnes for a traffic light at the intersection in February. The request was declined because it did not meet ALDOT criteria for a signal. Carroll asked McInnes to reconsider in June after a man, Gerald Burns, 64, died following a June 3 wreck on 72. His pickup truck rear-ended a fuel truck that had slowed to turn left from the highway onto Hardy, where the new elementary school is being constructed. McInnes has agreed to re-examine the request but has not yet made a decision.
Price knows how important the improvements are to the community and to motorist who travel the road.
“I work here in Huntsville but I live in south Limestone County,” Price said. “I avoid 72 as much as possible. I take the interstate because it’s just a busy highway.”
