Dangerous situation at Emerson intersection businesses said

<p>Last summer, more than 130 people signed a petition to get a new stoplight installed at an intersection that was changed drastically as part of significant road projects along Emerson Avenue.</p><p>That never happened, Greenwood officials say, because that intersection isn’t busy enough to warrant a stoplight.</p><p>Business owners disagree.</p><p>With several businesses in the industrial area and a nearby daycare all operating on a similar 9 to 5 schedule, dangerous traffic jams have become common during the morning and evening rush hours, business leaders and employees in the area said.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>As part of the $3.5 million Emerson Avenue road project, crews removed a turn lane at Sayre Drive, and added a concrete median which makes it more difficult to turn left, or north, onto Emerson. Business owners said taking out that turn lane and adding a median has caused significant backups, and has made it much harder for large trucks to get in and out.</p><p>Trucks have taken out the same stop sign and street sign three times turning on or off Sayre, a dead-end street which leads to a group of about 10 businesses, said John and Mark Cleary of Mark’s Vacuum.</p><p>The only way out during rush hour is to turn right, or south, onto Emerson from Sayre.</p><p>The change has also made it dangerous for the employees and patrons of those businesses, and guardians dropping off and picking up children at the daycare.</p><p>But city officials said they haven’t heard of any problems since construction was completed. They’re monitoring it, city engineer Daniel Johnston said.</p><p>The city studies both traffic data and intersections on an ongoing basis, and is constantly seeking to make improvements throughout the city, capital projects manager Kevin Steinmetz said. But there is a list of priorities they try to stick to, and right now there are no plans to add a stoplight or widen Emerson Avenue.</p><p>The last time traffic counts were conducted on Emerson Avenue between Main Street and County Line Road was during morning and evening rush hours in January of 2018, Steinmetz said. But that was before the daycare opened its doors, the Clearys said.</p><p>&quot;Decisions regarding specific intersections are data-driven and prioritized based upon several variables. We will continue monitoring the intersection at Sayre (and) Emerson and welcome any additional feedback from citizens and businesses,&quot; Steinmetz said.</p><p>The petitioners have taken their concerns to the city council and redevelopment commission, but nothing ever came of it, they said. They have not taken any action since.</p><p>&quot;After dealing with them, it was pretty obvious they weren’t going to do anything about it. They’re set in their ways, and nobody’s gotten killed yet, so I guess that’s what it’s going to take,&quot; John Cleary said.</p><p>Instead, they’ve made internal changes they shouldn’t have had to make, they said.</p><p>Mark Cleary, the owner of Mark’s Vacuum, had to change his employees schedules, often letting them leave early so they don’t get stuck in the 10- to 15-minute backup or risk their lives trying to get out, he said.</p><p>They don’t see many customers between 8 and 9 a.m., and 4:30 and 5:30 p.m., he thinks, because they’re avoiding the mess too, he said.</p><p>Employees and customers of the several businesses in that area have to make dangerous maneuvers daily if they leave Sayre during those peak times. One by one cars force their way out into oncoming traffic on Emerson Avenue, just to make a U-turn if they need to travel north, Mark Cleary said.</p><p>&quot;That’s the main thing. It is very dangerous. People have to kind of play rush and roll,&quot; he said. &quot;Traffic hasn’t slowed down. People still go faster than the speed limit.&quot;</p>