LUMBERTON – A series of traffic safety improvements planned for Robeson County will take place beginning today when an intersection is converted to an all-way stop.
Highway Division 6 crews for the N.C. Department of Transportation have begun this morning making the conversion at N.C. 41 and N.C. 904. The change will be completed by this afternoon. People should drive cautiously through the intersection and be aware of NCDOT crews in the vicinity.
A recent analysis by NCDOT showed 15 of 20 crashes in this intersection were angled, or T-boned. They were primarily caused by drivers on N.C. 904 failing to yield to vehicles on N.C. 41, which does not have stop signs.
A departmental study in 2010 found converting intersections into all-way stops reduced fatality and injury-related crashes by 72%. The department, in particular, has increased the number of all-way stop locations in Robeson County in recent years to improve highway safety.
“We have identified several new locations where making this simple traffic pattern change will dramatically lower the risk for serious crashes," said Grady Hunt, a Robeson County resident who serves on the N.C. Board of Transportation. “Making all-way stops gives a great return on investment."
Hunt is also chairman of the Robeson County Vision Zero task force, which is seeking to reduce highway deaths.
The NCDOT has identified seven locations in Robeson County warranting the all-way treatment that have been approved for funding. The department last year lumped them into one project expected to cost almost $300,000.
The rest will be scheduled later one intersection at a time. The six remaining locations (click on the links below to see where on a Google map) are expected to be converted by the end of this year: