News from Feb.
19, 2003 issue
County's most dangerous
roadways
There are a handful of dangerous stretches of road throughout
Marion and Crittenden County which represent the most automobile
accidents, according to local authorities.
Although accidents worked by local police or the county sheriff's
department have shown a steady decrease in the last few years,
there's still some trouble spots. In fact, state police records
show a spike in the number of wrecks countywide.
Just south of Mott City on U.S. 641 is a slight bend and dip in
the highway. Sheriff Wayne Agent says that particular spot is
one of the county's most troublesome, ranking right up there with
the notorious stretch of road near Rosebud Church.
"Instead of banking into that curve, it kind of throws you
into it," said Kentucky State Trooper Brent White, who agrees
with the sheriff about that particular spot of roadway being one
of the worst in the county.
"It's especially dangerous right there if the road is a little
wet," added the trooper who said that state police have advised
the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet about the potential for accidents
there.
"We work several accidents right there and most of the drivers
run off the road and hit the same culvert," the sheriff said.
Alicia Wagoner, a nurse at the convalescent center, was seriously
injured in a wreck at that particular location a few months ago
after a rainstorm.
Agent said the spot between Mott City and Fredonia has been the
site of several accidents, but no fatalities. The accident that
injured Wagoner was perhaps the most serious in the last year
or so.
Besides Rosebud hill, other hot spots are U.S. 60 East about a
mile and half west of Sturgis where there are two fairly sharp
curves, the stretch of U.S. 60 in and near Crayne, and ironically
a fairly harmless looking stretch of U.S. 60 East just out of
Marion past Hanor's Gun Shop.
"That's a strange one," Agent said. "There are
no apparent road conditions that make that a bad spot, but it
is."
Trooper White thinks drivers begin speeding up once they leave
the restricted area and hit the 55 mph zone.
In the past three years, Agent says wrecks have slowed. Just a
few years ago, the sheriff recalls his department responding to
more than 100 accidents in one year. In 2003, that number was
only 84.
Strangely, state police's accident numbers are about the same
as they were two years ago after a noticeable drop in 2002.
Some trouble spots on U.S. 60 West have been quiet lately. Trooper
White said increased patrols by he and Trooper Darron Holliman
in that area may have done some good.
"Now we're going to concentrate on a couple of other areas,
working at least 2 hours of our shifts in high-crash areas,"
White said, pointing to a 7-mile stretch of U.S. 641 from Marion
to the Caldwell County line and a 12-mile stretch of U.S. 60 East
from Marion to the Union County line.
In the City of Marion, Police Chief Kenneth Winn says accidents
are dropping, but he can't attribute it to any particular reason.
"It's just kind of a weird thing, we can go months and have
one or two, then all of a sudden have eight or nine wrecks in
a month," Winn said.
In the last three years, traffic accidents inside the city limits
have dropped 32 percent. These wrecks include those on streets,
highways, parking lots and private property.
Winn says that while the frequency of accidents is dropping, most
of them are still avoidable.
"Most of the wrecks we have are just people not paying attention
to driving or poor judgement," the chief said.
Some of the most notorious accident spots in the city are at the
intersection of North College and East Bellville streets and the
intersection of South College and Depot streets.