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Athens resident wants changes at dangerous intersection

By Bobby Shuttleworth - bio | email
Posted by Dana Franks - email

ATHENS, AL (WAFF) - One Athens man got so fed up with a traffic trouble spot that he took his complaints to the Internet. Now he's now gotten the attention of the state Department of Transportation.

Video on YouTube shows the intersection of North Jefferson and Elm streets, along with the congestion among people turning left.

James Sandefur, III said he was so frustrated after talking to politicians that he put the video of traffic problems on the Web.

"It becomes quite congested, especially after 3 p.m.," Sandefur said. "Everyone's risking their life."

Sandefur said his vehicle was hit there about 15 years ago, and he has been trying to get changes made ever since.

So what are you suppose to do with problems like this? Sandefur was at a loss.

"After you talk to your civic leaders, and you try to talk to street commissioners and no one is listening, you feel like the people on the Internet can identify more with you," he said.

WAFF 48 News took the question to Athens Mayor Dan Williams.

"I've looked at the situations that he's concerned about and there are problems with those," Williams said.

Williams said he took those concerns to the state to see if they can make improvements.

"We don't have turn lanes and we actually need turn lanes on that," he said. "That is a bad intersection there."

WAFF 48 News got more advice from the Department of Transportation in Montgomery. Representatives from the department's Office of Community Relations said they want to hear from people about their problems.

Motorists could call them, or they can go to their website and click on the "Report A Road Concern" icon to report problems in their community at www.dot.state.al.us. The department's phone number is (334) 242-6552.

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