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May 22, 2006
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May 22, 2006
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BY SARA LINDAU: Staff Writer Southern Pines' plan to turn Knoll Road into a north-south connector to reduce traffic on Midland Road and alleviate congestion at the Pinehurst Traffic Circle has succeeded. In fact, it may be too successful. More and more residents have discovered Knoll, which stretches from Morganton Road -- passing through Mid South Club and crossing Midland Road at Longleaf Country Club -- to Airport Road. It was designed to provide an alternative route to bypass the Traffic Circle.
But the traffic on Knoll Road has increased to the point that many residents who live in the area are questioning why a traffic signal has not been installed at what they say is a dangerous intersection at Midland Road.
Residents say drivers regularly speed on Knoll. They say it can be confusing when several cars are lined up on both sides of Knoll waiting to turn onto Midland or go straight across.
Several wrecks have occurred at the intersection. In a recent accident, two cars were trying to make turns with sight distance obscured by Pinecrest High School-bound traffic lined up to make their turns onto Knoll.
Several residents who have witnessed wrecks have written letters to The Pilot exhorting the Southern Pines Council and/or N.C. Department of Transport-ation to do something to improve safety at the intersection.
Former Town Manager Kyle Sonnenberg had predicted that a traffic signal would eventually have to be installed at the location.
Southern Pines is responsible for Knoll Road's maintenance and any traffic safety devices or signals placed on it.
But the NCDOT is responsible for Midland, which is N.C. 2. So it would be up to the state to install a signal at this intersection.
According to state transportation board member G.R. Kindley of Rockingham, who represents this district, no one has contacted him either in writing or informally, to ask that a signal be installed.
Kindley said that if the municipality would write him to request the DOT study the need for a signal at that intersection, he would ask the agency to conduct an analysis. The study would take about six to eight weeks.
No Justification, For Now
But in March, R.W. Stone II, a NCDOT division traffic services engineer, did take a look at that intersection in response to a request from Pinehurst resident LeAnne Purvis. He informed her in a March 30 letter that "the study did not identify conditions at the intersection appropriate for the installation of a traffic signal at this time."
Stone said he reviewed data about the intersection gathered over the last several years.
A speed study was conducted March 1 through 3. The study found that 85 percent of traffic on N.C. 2 was traveling at 52 mph in the eastbound lane and 51 mph in the westbound direction. He concluded that "this is considered reasonably good compliance with the posted 45 mph speed limit."
Wreck data identified four accidents within 150 feet of the intersection during the most recent 36-month period available, from Jan. 1, 2003, through Dec. 31, 2005, he said. Of these, two "are considered as possibly being correctable by installation of a traffic signal."
The number of cars making turns at that intersection were also included in the evaluation, he said.
He said he checked the data "against the traffic signal needs criteria from the latest Federal Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUCD)." Stone promised to "continue to monitor this intersection for future safety needs."
Purvis gave The Pilot a copy of Stone's letter responding to her request. She had written the letter to the Governor's office and the N.C. Secretary of Transport-ation. She regularly negotiates the intersection in her vehicle.
Residents point to an accident that happened May 10 about 7:50 a.m. to illustrate the need for a traffic signal at that intersection.
Jammed Intersection
A 16-year-old driver, Patrick Fuller of Pinehurst, was charged with failure to yield right of way when he was attempting to make a left turn onto North Knoll Road at Longleaf and struck another car proceeding toward Pinehurst through the intersection, according to the investigating State Highway Patrol trooper's accident report.
Fuller was headed east on Midland (toward Southern Pines) when he attempted to make the left turn into Longleaf. He struck a car driven by Wanda Lamb, 49, of Vass, who was traveling west on Midland Road toward Pinehurst, according to the report.
Purvis, who witnessed the wreck, speculated that the "young man could not see through all the cars turning left into South Knoll Road to Pinecrest High School."
With "that many vehicles jammed into the intersection at once, and the speed limit is 45 mph for oncoming traffic, the chances for a collision are tremendous," she wrote in a letter to The Pilot in Public Speaking.
She urged residents lobby Gov. Mike Easley and N.C. Secretary of Transportation Lyndo Tippett to get safety measures -- a traffic signal -- in place immediately.
A problem existed with Knoll before Southern Pines ever completed its extension from Midland southward to Morganton Road, says Longleaf resident Margaret Pleasants.
Knoll runs through her residential community, from Airport Road to Midland. Traffic from Sandhills Community College, The O'Neal School and even Whispering Pines uses it as a cut-through. She said many drivers speed through Longleaf.
The town completed the final leg of Knoll several years ago, stretching from the northern side of Midland to Morganton Road. The town installed a roundabout at Knoll and Pinecrest School Road. There is a traffic signal at Knoll and Morganton.
Traffic is extremely heavy on Knoll in the morning when school starts and in the afternoon when school lets out.
Secondary Problem
The increased traffic on Knoll has created another problem for Mid South Club, according to residents who live there. Some motorists are cutting through on private Palmer Road over to Midland Road, to bypass the Knoll-Midland road intersection.
Lori Karan of Pinehurst suggested in a letter to The Pilot that the near-accidents occurring at the Knoll/Midland intersection at Longleaf have been so prevalent that most drivers prefer to use the Palmer Drive access road at Midland as a safer alternative.
Karan said she was "thrilled" when the Knoll Road extension crossing Midland Road was completed. But, she said, "when I heard the road had opened, I immediately thought, ‘It can't open yet, they haven't put in the traffic light!'"
Sal Picard, president of the Mid South homeowners' association, has asked the Southern Pines Town Council to install signs at Palmer and Knoll roads to prohibit left turns from Knoll onto Palmer. Residents say that would cut down some of the traffic cutting through, often at a high rate of speed, to reach Midland.
Former Southern Pines Councilman John McInerney said recently that he hopes the town "can figure out something short of a four-way stop. Knoll Road was always intended to be a connector road."
"From day one, until they started turning dirt on what was the Plantation (now Mid-South Club) ... that has been the intention, to complete the Knoll road corridor. We need lots of roads."
Some residents, even those who don't live at Mid South, say that if a traffic signal were installed at Midland and Knoll, the secondary problem on Palmer Drive would disappear.
The speed limit on Midland Road, an historic tree-lined highway running from Southern Pines to Pinehurst, is 45 mph. The only traffic signal between the Traffic Circle and U.S. 1 is at Pee Dee Road.
On Monday, May 15, between 3:15 and 4 p.m., heavy traffic was moving along Midland in both directions, some making turns onto Knoll from both directions. Traffic on Knoll Road backed up, with three or four cars in a line waiting to enter Midland safely.
"I don't dare try to cross Midland from Knoll Road," Pleasants said.
Pleasants said the visibility of oncoming vehicles is better at the Mid-South Palmer Drive entrance.
Southern Pines Town Manager Reagan Parsons, new to the Knoll Road/Midland issue, said the town is going to do its own traffic count along Knoll Road.
Police Chief John Letteney said officers have issued 113 citations (tickets) for speeding on Knoll Road, but no accidents have been reported on Knoll for the past three years.
Sara Lindau can be reached at 693-2473 or by e-mail at slindau@thepilot.com. |
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