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Show Road becoming new death strip The three-mile stretch of State Road 89 between Pleasant Grove and American Fork is becoming another Utah "death strip" - and it will continue to claim lives until changes are made. Evidence that the road is unsafe mounts daily. Former Pleasant Grove resident Dora Rees was recently killed on the dangerous stretch of road. And earlier this spring, a young Pleasant Grove man, Bruce Draney, lost his life in a flaming accident in the same area. At one time, that small length of highway must have provided fast and safe driving between the two cities. But as more and more businesses have built along the road, the nature of the highway traffic has changed as well. SR-89 is no longer used to simply get from here to there. The road is now filled with consumers traveling to one of the many businesses along the four-lane highway -- all of which are located on the south side of the roadway. That means many drivers are faced with making left turns across two lanes of traffic traveling at 55 miles an hour. Even more difficult is pulling out from one of those business and making a left turn across two lanes of oncoming traffic and then trying to merge with cars moving the same direction at high speeds. As traffic grows, the median lane that now provides a little safety for the motorist is threatening to become a death trap. The same problem faces motorists going to or coming from the American Fork Hospital - and if something isn't done, many of them may be making a return visit to the hospital before they get home. Understandably, there is some reluctance to change the flow of traffic. People like to get where they are going as fast as theycan -- and wide open stretches invite a heavy foot on the gas pedal. A good example is the stretch of the same highway between Pleasant Grove and Orem, where traffic never slows to the posted 40 mph speed limit. However, the constant 55 and 60 mph speeds experienced ex-perienced along the road between Pleasant Grove and American Fork multiply the danger and deadliness of auto accidents in the area. There is ample evidence in this with all of the "near-misses" that happen daily. It is time for the Utah Department of Transportation, which has charge of state roads, to make some changes on SR-89 between Pleasant Grove and American Fork --changes --changes that would save lives. Traffic signals at approprate locations would help. UDOT is reluctant to place new signals, andrequire certain traffic patterns, but it would seem that the dangers of this particular stretch would justify traffic control under any circumstances. It would also make sense to reduce the speed limit for the three mile stretch. As it is now, the road allows the maximum 55 mph speed limit for such a short distance that it could be dropped to 40 mph with a minimum of inconvenience. But whatever is done, it should be done soon. Traffic increases along SR-89 daily. It should not take another death to convince state officials to make that brief stretch of state highway more safe. |
