By T. Scott Boatright
The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development has decided that a four-way stop sign is the best way to make one of Lincoln Parish’s most dangerous intersections safer.
And the DOTD plans to make that happen on June 2 (weather permitting) when it plans to convert the intersection of La. Hwy. 150 (“Old Grambling Road”) and La. Hwy. 818 (Tarbutton Road) from a two-way stop with flashing beacon to an all-way stop.
A DOTD release said change comes as the result of a Road Safety Assessment conducted by DOTD, the Regional Transportation Safety Coalition, the Lincoln Parish Police Jury, the City of Ruston, and local law enforcement.
The Lincoln Parish Journal first reported on May 5 that Grambling Police Chief Tommy Clark said the change was coming.
“The Louisiana Department of Transportation, the Ruston police chief (Steve Rogers) and myself met at that intersection to talk about some changes they’re going to make there,” Clark said during May’s monthly Grambling City Council meeting. “We were out looking at the traffic because there are a lot of crashes there at that light because of the way the road curves. With the (Tarbutton Overpass) now open, we have more traffic there than ever before. When they opened the road back up, it almost tripled the accidents at that caution light.”
That assessment Clark talked about reportedly analyzed traffic data and crash history, as well as possible countermeasures that could be implemented to improve safety at the intersection.
The DOTD release said it will be installing temporary rumble strips along “Old Grambling Road” to increase awareness of the new four-way stop configuration and that it will also be installing oversized 48-inch stop signs with “all way stop” plaques, and “stop ahead” warning signs along “Old Grambling Road.” The existing flashing beacon will also be modified to flash all red.
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