Decatur considering new traffic light at busy intersection

Photo by Mike Eckels The flashing four-way light on the corner of Main St. (Highway 59) and Roller Ave. (Highway 102) in Decatur may soon get a new look. The Decatur city council voted July 14 to allow Mayor Charles Linam to pursue a new traffic signal light at that intersection.
Photo by Mike Eckels The flashing four-way light on the corner of Main St. (Highway 59) and Roller Ave. (Highway 102) in Decatur may soon get a new look. The Decatur city council voted July 14 to allow Mayor Charles Linam to pursue a new traffic signal light at that intersection.

DECATUR -- While sitting at the Gallery Cafe eating lunch one afternoon, a visitor began to watch traffic flowing through the four-way stop at the intersection of Main Street (Arkansas Highway 59) and Roller Avenue (Arkansas Highway 102) in Decatur. After 15 minutes of watching the vehicular ballet outside the window, the visitor came to the conclusion that "this must be the busiest intersection in town," and that visitor would be correct.

Normally the traffic flows smoothly through the intersection of Main and Roller. However, when the clock strikes 3 p.m. things change. The Simmons plants, schools and other factories in the area let out, and that intersection resembles the I-49 and U.S. 412 interchange in Springdale. It is commonplace to see lines of cars and trucks backed up for a mile in all four directions during rush hour.

Then, one bright and clear morning in June, the unthinkable happened. A tractor-trailer rig, making a left turn from the southbound lane of Main onto Roller struck a power pole on one of the corners and knocked it down, resulting in a seven-hour traffic tie-up in all four directions from the Decatur intersection. This prompted Decatur's mayor, Charles Linam, and the city council to seek a solution to prevent such a scenario from occurring again.

The first solution was to widen Fourth Street from Hill Avenue to Roller and extend Fourth to Highway 59. Opposition from several Decatur residents at the June 9 public hearing quickly nixed this plan.

A second plan was then introduced during the June 9 hearing to replace the flashing four-way stop light with a traffic signal device. The council looked upon this plan more favorably and voted to allow Linam to return to the Arkansas Highway Department for further study.

"We think if we had the traffic light, it would alleviate the problem of traffic backing up, mostly to the north and sometimes to the south," Linam said.

Linam sent a letter to Steve Lawrence, district engineer for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, requesting a traffic operations study on the Main and Roller intersection.

In the city council meeting July 14, Linam reported that the AHTD completed the traffic operations study of the Main and Roller intersection and it included a 24-hour traffic count, accident records review and on-site investigation with the conclusion that "signalization" is warranted at the Main and Roller intersection.

Now that the AHTD determined the need for a signal, it will prepare an estimated cost for this project which will take six to eight weeks to complete. The estimate will include any right-of-way and utility adjustments. The AHTD will also advise the city of Decatur of funding assistance that might be available to help pay for the project.

A public hearing was convened to hear from Decatur residents on this new proposal. Since no residents were present at the meeting, the proposal was sent to the city council. The council voted to allow Linam to pursue the project.

"With the current stop and go system, each vehicle has to stop," Linam said. "With the new system, if it is timed correctly, the lines north and south could go through rapidly and not be backed up."

The fact remains, traffic through Decatur on Main and Roller has increased significantly over the past several years and will likely continue to increase as new businesses move into the area. And one thing is clear: Decatur needs to put in place a solution before the next seven-hour delay occurs.

General News on 07/23/2014