WHALEYVILLE, Md. - Maryland’s State Highway Administration is in the design process of a new traffic signal at the intersection of Route 50 and Whaleyville Road.
Right now, the intersection has flashing yellow lights for those traveling on 50, and flashing red lights for those who are traveling through the intersection.
Neighbors in the area say the planned traffic light is long overdue. Fernando Garcia says his sister was in an accident in the area.
“She was T-boned in an intersection as she was crossing,” he says. “Very traumatic as we hear the traffic accidents all the time that occur here. I'd say several every month. To find out that it's one of your own family members, it's pretty nerve wracking and stressful.”
Michele Messix says she saw an accident with her own eyes.
“A lady went to Salisbury to pick up her friend or relative, and she never made it to Delaware. She was killed on a passenger door, and I witnessed it.”
Many accidents have happened at this intersection. Five people were taken to the hospital last week from an accident. In August, a man died at the scene of a crash.
Trees were cut down at the intersection in an attempt to restore the sightline at the intersection, but crashes continued to occur. According to officials, a third of a mile of trees were cut.
Mark Crampton is the District 1 Engineer with the State Highway Administration. He says the crashes at the intersection are pretty severe.
“For recent years we've had a lot of requests from the county about concerns of traffic crashes at 50 and 610,” he says. “The predominant crash pattern is a westbound 50 vehicle is either hitting a median or a vehicle coming from the north trying to cross the westbound lanes of 50. Unfortunately, the problem is when that happens, it's an angle crash. So one car's hitting something at a right angle. It's a high rate of speed.”
Crampton says the layout of the intersection will be similar to other intersections along Route 50, like the one at Sixty Foot Road. He says he hopes construction of the signal will begin this time next year.
