A study of Russell Pkwy, Tharpe Rd Intersection

In light of the recent death of a 90-year-old woman due to a wreck at the intersection of Russell Parkway and Tharpe Road, an online petition has been started to ask the Georgia Department of Transportation to install a light.

The petition letter states: “Put a traffic light at Tharpe Rd and Russell Pky. There has [sic] been multiple car accidents at this intersection and multiple Fatalities. It’s insane trying to cross 4 lanes of traffic to get to Russell from Tharpe. A red light at this intersection will help eliminate ‘risky’ drivers causing accidents.”

As of 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 15, 1,316 people had signed the petition, which asks for 1,500 signatures.

According to an open records request by the Houston Home Journal, there have been 66 wrecks at that intersection over the last eight years, from 2009 to 2017.

Of those wrecks, 40 of them did not involve injuries while 26 of them did.

Many of the wrecks included citations for one or both drivers; however, “several citations are not included due to our city retention policy,” according to the records department at the city of Warner Robins.

Of the years listed, 2013 was the safest year, with only one wreck at that intersection. The incident did not have any injuries.

2016 had the most crashes at 13 total; however, 2009 had more wrecks with injuries than any other year with six.

While a few of the incidents listed were rear-enders, the most common type of accident happened when one vehicles is traveling south on Tharpe Road when it is struck in the side by a vehicle traveling west on Russell Parkway.

That type of collision was the most common and accounted for the most injuries. The most common citation issued was failure to yield, usually after stopping at the stop sign at the intersection.

According to the accident reports, several of the wrecks appeared to have at least one person with serious injuries. The reports do not state whether a person died as a result of the injuries, so the Houston Home Journal was unable to accurately determine the number of deaths at that intersection in the past eight years.

Several changes to the intersection have been proposed in light of the wrecks that have occurred there, such as reducing the speed limits on both Tharpe and Russell near the intersection, preventing Tharpe road from crossing the intersection and instead only allowing left turns and adding a traffic signal at the intersection. Currently, the speed limit on Russell Parkway at that intersection is 55 mph while Tharpe Road has a limit of 35 mph.

While reducing the speeds may help to reduce the seriousness of some wrecks, that intersection already contains a stop sign. According to the incident reports, most drivers obey the stop signs. The wreck occurs after failing to yield to oncoming traffic or, according to driver statements on the incident reports, failing to see the oncoming vehicle.

The most prevalent line of thinking to reduce wrecks at the intersection is the installation of a traffic signal. There are often certain requirements to add traffic signals to intersections, such as traffic counts and accident statistics.

While signals often reduce the amount of broadside collisions, they may actually cause a total increase in the number of wrecks. Traffic engineers usually have to justify a trade off on reducing the number of broadside collisions while increasing the number of rear-enders.

Another common occurrence at traffic signals are drivers not heeding to the device. New lights installed often have a set amount of time they are set to simply flash to get drivers accustomed to the new light. Traffic signals that have long wait times for a minor road crossing a major road may cause drivers to seek alternative routes, thus adding to congestion in other areas, or drivers may simply disobey the law after becoming frustrated at the wait time.

A traffic signal may also increase congestion in the area by slowing and stopping traffic traveling east or west on Russell Parkway. If drivers making a left turn from Tharpe to Russell fail to yield at a stop sign, they will most likely fail to yield at a stoplight as well. However, a traffic signal may reduce the number of wrecks when vehicles are trying to cross all four lanes of Russell Parkway to continue on Tharpe Road.

The final suggestion to reduce wrecks in the area is one that is already employed at several other areas on Russell Parkway. Many people feel that closing off the median to prevent drivers from crossing Russell Parkway is justified. This would mean drivers would need to make a right turn only at the intersection onto Russell Parkway.

This suggestion still does not prevent the failure to yield problem at the intersection. It will also cause drivers to go out of their way in order to continue on Tharpe Road, and many may choose to make a U-turn further down Russell Parkway in order to continue on their original destination. U-turns are often far more dangerous to all drivers due to the slowness of the maneuver as well as the amount of space it often takes. According to data, nearly half of all drivers ignore traffic laws preventing U-turns.

If the City of Warner Robins decides to change the intersection, traffic engineers will have several pros and cons of each option to weigh, and they will need to take those suggestions to City Council. That intersection is actually controlled by the City and not by the DOT, so all changes will need to be approved by Council. Regardless of what Council decides, it will take several months of study of the intersection to come to a solution, and it will probably take several more months after the implementation of any changes to see a reduction in wrecks. Until such a solution is proposed and implemented, drivers should take extra caution at the intersection and be more cognizant of both traffic laws and their surroundings.

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