JONESVILLE — Concerns about danger at a local intersection have led Jonesville residents to organize efforts regarding the installation of a stop light.
A collision at the intersection of New Hope Church Road and U.S. 176 in Jonesville — near Jonesville Elementary/Middle School — sent two people to the hospital on Friday morning. That is one of a number of collisions to have happened at that intersection during the hours of school traffic since JEMS opened there, and several Jonesville residents have decided something needs to be done.
One of those residents — Nancy Millwood — said the intersection is too dangerous to only have a caution light.
“Once you top that hill right there, you don’t have a lot of reaction time,” she said.
Former Jonesville resident Joe Pettit said he warned others about the danger of the intersection while his children were students at JEMS.
“I’m surprised there haven’t been more wrecks there,” Pettit said, explaining that he immediately noticed a problem seeing oncoming traffic the first time he took his children to school there.
Millwood said her mother-in-law was involved in an accident at the intersection while going to pick up her nieces at school in November.
“It hit home then,” she said.
Since November, Millwood has been in contact with the S.C. Department of Transportation about the possibility of installing a stop light. She said the SCDOT has done one study on the intersection, which was during the first year the school was there. Millwood also said Union County Dispatch is currently working to compile a list of 911 calls for that particular intersection.
According to Millwood, the SCDOT said they will review their findings and if a light is needed, the object would then be to figure out where to get funding.
“What price do you put on a child’s life — bus loads of kids?” Millwood said.
Millwood and others have organized a meeting to inform local citizens about efforts for the proposed stop light — and what they can do to help.
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at the Jonesville Auction, which is located at the intersection of Highway 18 and Highway 9. Items to be discussed at the meeting will include the red light proposal, child safety, the SCDOT’s response, studies which have been completed and funding for such a project. Millwood said email addresses and phone numbers for local officials will also be distributed at the meeting. She said local officials, SCDOT representatives and members of the media have been invited, and those who are encouraged to attend include parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers and all concerned citizens.
Staff Writer Derik Vanderford can be reached at 864-427-1234, ext. 29, or by email at dvanderford@civitasmedia.com.
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