Ruritan Club concerned about intersection

Published 5:31 pm Tuesday, February 7, 2017

While a roundabout construction project is being considered at the intersection of and Routes 45 and 690 (Columbia Road and Cartersville Road) in Cartersville, the Cartersville Ruritan Club has concerns about a different intersection.

According to Ruritan Randy Bryant, the more concerning intersection is that of Route 45 and Deep Run Road in Cartersville.

Bryant serves on the board of directors for the Ruritan Club and on a committee formed by the Ruritans to help determine what needs to be done to make the intersection safer.

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Bryant said the intersection poses a great danger to drivers, especially those who are not familiar to the area.

According to Bryant, an old store at the intersection has been struck multiple times by vehicles unable to navigate the intersection correctly. In addition, Bryant says car-on-car collisions plague the intersection.

“There is a large telephone connection box on one side of that intersection that gets run over at least three times a year, just mashed flat to the ground,” Bryant said. “Last time (the phone company) spent several days there and the phone system was out in parts of Cartersville for a day.”

Bryant believes speed is a large factor that’s involved in the accidents. The intersection being a four-way intersection with a two-way stop, Bryant said, leads to many people not slowing down through the intersection, making it more difficult to stop or move out of the way to avoid a collision.

Bryant said he believes the best solution would be to put a roundabout at the intersection.

Until that project can be completed, however, Bryant said he has reached out to a Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) district engineer to discuss a temporary fix.

VDOT Communications Manager Paula Jones declined to comment on a temporary solution “when we have not conducted a review.”

According to VDOT, the intersection sees roughly 1,500 vehicles per day.