The Gwinnett County intersection where two brothers who attended Dacula High School were killed last week has long been a concern for area officials, parents and students.
Ask about the intersection of Ga. 316 and Harbins Road and some Dacula city employees mention Willard Sims, a councilman killed there in 1997 when he steered his car into the path of a tractor-trailer.
“Not safe,” said city employee Angie Garcia, whose daughter was friends with the brothers.
Dacula High student Jared Brown, 17, was driving himself and his brother, Jaison, 15, to school before dawn Friday when his Honda Accord collided with a PT Cruiser as Brown turned left from Ga. 316 onto Harbins Road. It was the same turn Sims attempted to make. The other driver in Friday’s wreck suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Police said Jared Brown was at fault for failing to yield.
The tragic accident has renewed complaints that motorists drive too fast through the intersection, it’s not well-lit and it’s often difficult to see vehicles headed west on Ga. 316 because of the hill before Harbins Road.
The intersection was on the list of 157 transportation improvement projects across metro Atlanta to be funded by a penny-per-dollar sales tax, known as T-SPLOST, that voters soundly rejected in 2012. There are an average of two crashes a month at the intersection, according to one Atlanta Regional Commission report prepared before the vote. The report described that stretch of Ga. 316 as one of the most congested in the region.
This July, Gwinnett County commissioners hired a firm to construct dual left turn lanes from Harbins Road northbound at Ga. 316, which is also called University Parkway. The work is expected to cost about $635,000 and be completed by mid 2016.
The improvements in the T-SPLOST plan consisted of building an overpass at a cost of $23 million. Officials hope that can still be done.
“We’ve made that suggestion several times,” said longtime Dacula Mayor Jim Wilbanks. “It is something that needs to be worked on.”
The problem, Wilbanks said, is finding the money. State transportation officials weren’t immediately available Wednesday to discuss the status of such plans.
Wilbanks said he hopes the improvements county commissioners approved include a longer turn-lane signal for drivers going from Ga. 316 onto Harbins Road. He’d like to see better lighting along Ga. 316.
Some caution the upcoming improvements may not have saved the Brown brothers’ lives, but the wreck has served notice to Dacula High senior Joshua Blumgren to drive more safely through the intersection. Blumgren, 17, said as a result of Friday’s incident he now waits until the left-turn lane signal is green before pulling out in his green Ford pick-up there.
“I’m a little scared,” he said.
David Hardy, 41, who’s lived in the area since he was 15, believes that stretch of Ga. 316 needs better lighting and drivers to slow down. His daughter is about to turn 17 and he’s worried about her driving in the area once she gets her driver’s license.
“It scares me to death,” he said.
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