County to study 231/82 signals

Members of Bedford County Financial Management Committee said Tuesday night they are not satisfied with the state's decision to place flashing warning lights at the intersection of U.S. 231 and State Route 82; the committee has asked for the full county commission to discuss the issue next month.

"The flashing lights are nice, but we need more than that," said County Mayor Eugene Ray.

In January of this year, commissioners were split 9-9 on whether to ask the state to reduce the speed limit on U.S. 231 to 55 miles per hour, a change commissioners said had been recommended by individual state troopers. Ray broke the tie in favor of asking for the lower speed limit, but state legislators typically hesitate to follow up on such requests without a clear mandate, such as a two-thirds or greater majority, from the local body asking for the change.

In March, Commissioner Bobby Fox appeared before the commission's rules committee to pursue a traffic signal at the 231/82 intersection. The rules committee didn't even act on passing Fox's request along to the full commission, citing the commission's earlier vote as evidence there was no consensus on the issue.

But a traffic accident last week which killed a Cascade High School senior and left another Cascade senior in critical condition has brought the issue back to the forefront. Fox, as well as two interested private citizens, attended Tuesday night's finance committee meeting to discuss the issue. The two private citizens were Lloyd Davis and Brent McLean; Davis is the twin brother of Lewis Davis, who was killed in October in a traffic accident on Midland Road. Lloyd Davis was a passenger in that vehicle.

The finance committee is the last of the commission's four standing committees to meet each month and therefore provided a chance to get the issue placed on the full commission's agenda for the following month.

State Sen. Jim Tracy announced on Monday that the Tennessee Department of Transportation had agreed to place flashing caution lights at the intersection, both on 231 and on 82.

Ray said traffic signals are needed, not only at the 231/82 intersection, but at the intersection of 231 with Frank Martin Road, next to Heritage Medical Center. A traffic signal there, he said, could help an ambulance which needed to get onto the highway quickly.

Ray said there have been several fatalities in the general area of the 231/82 intersection in recent years.

Former state representative Curt Cobb told the committee that the problem is traffic count. The transportation department has guidelines and requirements which determine whether a traffic signal can be placed at a specific intersection.

Brenda Golden, 17, Church Cross Road, was dead at the scene of the accident on Friday morning, according to State Trooper Patrick Turner.

Victoria Atwell of Barton Drive, Normandy, was flown to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville after initial treatment at Heritage Medical Center, investigators said. Atwell, also a Cascade student, has been listed in critical but stable condition since that time. The van driven by Golden, with Atwell as a passenger, pulled out from State Route 82 attempting to make a left turn onto U.S. 231, according to Turner. In doing so, it pulled into the path of a northbound tractor-trailer owned by Greatwide and driven by Norman Smith of Lawrenceburg.

The full county commission will meet 7 p.m. Jan. 12.