MACON, Ga. — This one has been mentioned a couple of times on our "Driving Me Crazy" posts on social media.
It's about the intersection at Frank Amerson Parkway and Sardis Church Road, in front of the Love's Travel Stop in Macon.
Some people say it's dangerous to pull out of and it's driving them crazy!
13WMAZ’s Jessica Cha went to talk to one woman who's concerned, and found out whether the county can "greenlight" a solution.
Sierra Johns, a mother of three, says that this intersection makes her concerned for her safety. She says she sees semi trucks turning left out of this truck stop and sometimes into oncoming traffic.
"My name is Sierra Johns and the intersection on Sardis Church and Frank Amerson is 'Driving Me Crazy,'” she says.
Johns says she drives through this intersection everyday, and she says the semitrucks pulling out of the truck stop create a dangerous situation.
"An 18-wheeler pulled out right in front of me and I came pretty close to going right up under him, and I had all three babies up in there with me, and they were screaming and it's just really concerning,” she explains.
Johns says she’s heard from other folks say that they’ve had similar scary situations. She says that if a red light was installed, it would be for the best for everyone.
“It would tell these truck drivers, ‘Hey, there are cars coming. You need to wait because there are lives and these lives do matter -- not just for us, but for you, also,” she says.
County Commissioner Bill Howell says he knows how dangerous the intersection is.
"Ever since I campaigned to be a county commissioner out here, this was one of my main concerns,” he says.
Howell says the county's traffic engineer decided that a traffic light wasn't required at the time because there wasn’t enough traffic to justify installing one.
However, he says that’s not how he sees it.
"A truck sitting at that red light does not see you. They commit to pull out and they have 75 feet of truck that they got to get out of your way,” he explains.
Howell timed how much time it takes a truck to fully turn left into the lane, and how fast it takes a car to reach the truck. He says the truck, on average, takes nine to ten seconds to make it across, but he says oncoming cars, if speeding, average only five to seven seconds.
Howell says there have been several wrecks here, even a fatality.
"About a year and a half ago, there was a big controversy about another truck stop being added to this side of the road,” he explains. “Regardless of what the traffic count was, we definitely needed a light here if we were gonna add more traffic to this dangerous intersection.”.
According to Macon-Bibb Planning and Zoning records, they've approved a second truck stop to be built on Sardis Church Road and it has to have a traffic light installed.
"You have to jump through a lot of hoops. You got to deal with the state, there's all kinds of things to add a traffic light here. While it's been slow and coming, I'm just glad to know that we'll have one here,” says Howell.
We also spoke with Nigel Floyd– Macon-Bibb traffic engineer– and the county is still considering approval of the second truck stop.
However, he says if the truck stop is built there will be a light at that intersection.