Burnside Police working on making U.S. 27, Ky. 90 intersection safer

Local News

December 6, 2007

By CHRIS HARRIS, Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Thu Dec 06, 2007, 07:38 PM EST

Somerset — Burnside Assistant Police Chief Bruce Blevins was standing on the side of the road Wednesday, surrounded by the chilly December air at the intersection of Ky. 90 and U.S. 27, when he was almost hit by a passing car.

Ironic, considering he was busy handling the scene of an automobile accident — one of two consecutive wrecks at that same spot of road.

“(One of those involved in the accident) had a small child in the back of the car,” said Blevins, “and a car slid past it to avoid another car.”

In other words, not a safe situation for anyone — adult or child.

That’s why Blevins is trying to get the word out now, advising motorists to take precaution when on the road and at that intersection in particular, where construction is currently underway on a partial cloverleaf interchange.

Blevins knows construction can make traffic a little hairy — but the situation doesn’t have to be made worse by drivers not taking precautions, he suggested.

“Most of (the recent problems) are due to traffic congestion, with four lanes going down to two lanes,” said Blevins.

“There are too many distractions, with people doing other things while they’re driving — talking on the cell phone, putting on make-up — and taking away from the driver’s attention,” he added. “They’re too much in a hurry and aren’t paying attention.”

On that particular Wednesday, Blevins worked two accidents, one right after the other — and three more were narrowly avoided while he was in the course of duty.

Worse, he said, the prime time frames for the auto mishaps that have been occurring there are in the morning between 7 and 8 a.m. and the afternoons between 3 and 4 p.m. — times when children are headed to school in cars and buses.

“It is imperative that motorists pay attention to traffic laws at all times, but especially during these particular times,” said Blevins.

And it’s not like there’s a sudden speed zone trap — motorists can go 45 m.p.h. at that intersection, yet speeding remains a problem, Blevins noted.

“People need to just pay attention to traffic laws,” said Blevins. “Speed is the number one factor in traffic accidents. People are disregarding the stoplights at the intersection. The (workers) who hold up the (caution) signs along the road, people are ignoring the signs. We’ve gotten complaints that people are driving through their signs.”

Traffic violations don’t pay, either. Court costs are $128, observed Blevins — and that’s not including the actual fines for speeding, running lights and not wearing a seat belt.

It takes money to fight the problem, too. The Burnside Police Department has received $12,000 from the Governor’s Highway Traffic Safety Program. The money will be used for officers to work overtime specifically to target traffic violations, and is in effect until October of next year.

Burnside police also reminded motorists of the Kentucky laws that require them to slow down and move over for emergency vehicles.

Hopefully, said Blevins, these problems can be avoided if his agency lets people know right now to slow down, pay attention and be careful — especially at the intersection of U.S. 27 and Ky. 90 in Burnside.

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