The best way

to improve traffic and safety at the Jenkins/Ellison Road intersection

near Tyrone is to align the intersection, says Lee Hearn, director of

public works for Fayette County.

"It's

in my wish list of projects," Hearn said.

But residents

of the area are insisting that a four-way stop would solve the problem

now and not require any wait.

How best to

improve the intersection has been a sore bone of contention for Tyrone

Town Councilman Ronnie Cannon, and county commissioners last week told

Cannon they didn't appreciate his comments in earlier news articles on

the subject.

"I was

introduced to this problem by reading in the newspaper that I was arrogant

and I didn't care about the safety of children," commission Chairman

Greg Dunn said during an hour-long discussion with Cannon and Trina Berry

at last week's commission meeting. Berry was present to represent the

Sandy Creek High School PTSO in asking for the four-way stop.

Dunn was referring

to remarks Cannon had made during a Tyrone Town Council meeting.

Commissioner

A.G. VanLandingham also was incensed. He said he spent a great deal of

time, in response to Cannon's request, trying to find a way to place more

stop signs at the intersection, and had expected the matter to come before

the commissioners in due course, but then he read Cannon's comments in

the paper. "I did everything I possibly could, and yet the newspaper

was told that I was arrogant," he said.

"We have

to have a guide ... if this burns someone's posterior, I can't help that,"

VanLandingham added in response to Cannon's comment that "It's that

kind of arrogance that burns my tail" concerning the county's lack

of action on the request.

County officials

had indicated in previous discussions with Cannon that a four-way stop

would be the wrong solution for the intersection, referring to a 1998

traffic study in which none of the state guidelines for erection of a

four-way stop were satisfied.

The problem,

PTSO representative Berry told the board, is that there are stop signs

on Jenkins Road but not Ellison. When school lets out at the Sandy Creek

complex of three schools, students anxious to get to their after-school

activities are forced to stop, then make left turns onto Ellison with

limited sight distance.

Speeds on Ellison

average over 45 miles per hour, she said, and a dip followed by a rise

on Ellison obscures the vision of northbound traffic. The 1998 study also

mentions sight problems for the left-turning Jenkins traffic due to vegetation,

but the county's Hearn said that problem has since been dealt with by

cutting back the vegetation.

"We think

that making this a four-way stop would greatly improve the safety,"

Berry said. A petition signed by numerous parents backed her up.

Commissioner

Linda Wells argued otherwise. Cars traveling north on Ellison, encountering

the sight problem, would be suddenly confronted with traffic stopped at

the stop sign, she said. "I'm afraid we'd have some very, very serious

injuries," she said.

After the meeting,

Cannon argued that encountering someone who has just entered the highway

turning left from Jenkins would be just as dangerous.

Dunn said there's

no evidence the intersection is dangerous at all. Only two accidents have

been recorded in recent years, he said, and those were both "fender-benders."

But there have been numerous near-misses, said Berry.

"The code

is real clear," Hearn told the commission. He added he thinks the

intersection is safe. "I wouldn't have a problem with my wife or

my children traveling through this intersection," he said.

But he said

squaring off the intersection into a "t" shape would remove

any remaining sight distance problem.

That solution

would be acceptable, said Cannon, but having recently committed more than

$400,000 to solve a traffic problem at McDonough and County Line roads,

it may be some time before the county can afford that option, he said.

"If they've

got the money to do it, fine," he told The Citizen.