Residents request stop sign at dangerous intersection

Despite new speed limit signs, drivers on County Road 18 still feel intersection with Evans Bridge Road is too dangerous.

By M. Dean Smith

The street sign for County Road 18 sits hidden from
traffic traveling northbound on Evans Bridge Road

HEFLIN - Residents in the southeastern edge of the city want a 3-way stop on Evans Bridge Road at the intersection of two separate portions of County Road 18. A motorist who frequents the intersection petitioned the city council on Tuesday to place a new stop sign in addition to the recently installed speed limit signs aimed at traffic entering Heflin. “I have been almost hit four different times in that corner,” said Diana Childs at the May 8 city council work session. “You can’t see until you get totally out into the road.“ Childs lives off of County Road 18 a few miles east of the intersection and said motorists on Evans Bridge Road continue to speed over the hill coming into Heflin which makes it a hazardous location. Officials with Heflin Police Department and Cleburne County Sheriff's Office were unaware of any traffic accidents in the past year that can be directly linked to the layout of the intersection. Residents in the area of the intersection agree with Childs that the current two-way stop is dangerous. For three years, Connie Smith has lived with the intersection in her front yard and attests vehicles speed from all four directions. “When pulling out of my driveway and you’re going straight across, you had better gun it,” she said as she motioned across her yard towards the western side of the intersection. Smith was not aware of any recent accidents at the intersection but mentioned two further south where Evans Bridge Road turns into County Road 84 near the Heflin city limits. She and neighbors believe the speeders are teenagers who travel to and from the Cleburne County Vocational School and agree a 3-way stop might help address some safety concerns.

Existing stop signs provide a two-way stop for traffic
traveling east and west on County Road 18

Diana Childs also told the council about successful requests to install speed limit signs near the intersection, which were erected last week by the county and established the speed limit at 35 m.p.h., but mentioned confusion in determining if a stop sign would be “a city matter or a county matter.” City engineer Shannon Robbins confirmed to In the Field by phone that, according to maps approved in 2005 by county commissioners and the city council, the intersection is within the city limits. Heflin Mayor Anna Berry assured Childs that she and the council would discuss the matter and Heflin Police Chief Robert Pittman agreed to investigate the intersection the following day.