Starting sometime Monday, traffic at the intersection of U.S. 82 West and Sunflower Road will be slowing down thanks to a recently installed traffic signal.
The advent of the signal was cause for celebration Friday as residents of the College Heights subdivision and current and former employees of Mississippi Valley State University attended a press conference announcing the signal's arrival.
The event, held at the Leflore County Business Incubator, was attended by political leaders including Bill Minor, state transportation commissioner for the northern district; Itta Bena Mayor Thelma Collins; state Rep. Willie Perkins, D-Greenwood; Robert Moore, president of the Leflore County Board of Supervisors; Otis Abron, District 3 supervisor; and Wayne Self, District 4 supervisor.
"This is a day to remember. That we have pulled together and something good has happened," said Collins in her opening remarks.
The intersection, which previously had a flashing yellow signal, has been the site of numerous fatal collisions down through the years.
Minor said having the accident data helped speed up the traffic survey that is required to move such a project along.
"The light went up a lot faster than I thought," he said. Minor credited Self and Collins for providing Mississippi Department of Transportation engineers with the accident information.
Self, in his remarks, said the signal would immediately begin to save lives. "We've had tragedies there for the past 15 to 20 years," he said.
Unlike a typical signal, which might take as long as six months to seek bids from private contractors before work on the signal could actually begin.
Minor said, the signal's location already had wiring and electrical connections in place, so state highway crews from Jackson went ahead and installed the signal earlier this week.
"We did this ourselves," Minor said.
Sunflower Road is heavily traveled not only by residents of College Heights, Valley students and faculty, but also by employees of America's Catch Inc., Collins said.
Moore said a special thanks was in order for Perkins and state Sen. David Jordan, D-Greenwood, who brought attention to the intersection to MDOT officials in Jackson.
Dr. David H. Wicks, Valley's retired director of institutional research and assistant vice president for academic affairs, said the signal should help a lot.
"Every weekday cars are just lined up at that intersection at 11:30, waiting to cross. It's going to be quite a safety feature," he said.
Annie Brown, a resident of Itta Bena, said the intersection has been deadly.
"I've been here a long time. I've seen so many accidents happen there. I thank the Lord for making it possible for us to get that signal. We had to pray about it. The Lord gave it to us at the right time," she said.
