The level grade crossing at the busy intersection of Hurricane Creek Road with the new U.S. 35 creates a major hazard as cross-traffic attempts to negotiate four lanes of speeding traffic.
It should be noted that the width of the intersection does not allow a school bus to safely stop in the median.
Several Interstates in rural areas of the U.S. have these at-grade intersections, including median breaks with minor roads.
This is usually due to the high cost to construct an interchange for the small amount of traffic that uses such a connection.
But we think the engineers who designed the Hurricane Creek intersection may have made the error of using outdated traffic counts on which to base their calculations.
At-grade intersections protected by traffic lights are not unknown on limited-access highways.
The Division of Highways and the federal government need to strongly consider installation of traffic lights at this intersection.
The alternative will unfortunately be a series of collisions, some of them fatal, at this hazardous intersection.