Dangerous Intersections in Mobile March 21, 2013 8 Gallery: Dangerous Intersections in Mobile March 21, 2013

MOBILE, Alabama -- Whenever 75,000 vehicles travel through an area on a given day, chances are crashes will happen.

So it is unlikely motorists will be surprised to learn that of all the intersections in the city of Mobile, Airport and University boulevards carry the title as the most dangerous.

"Airport and University has been problematic," Councilwoman Bess Rich, who represents a chunk of the area along Airport Boulevard, said.

The intersection tops the list of those that the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department had to respond to for calls during a short time period from Jan. 1, 2012-March 10, 2013.

"We respond anywhere there is an accident," Steve Huffman, spokesman with the department, said.

The heavily traveled intersection in west Mobile linking two of the more populated areas of the city in terms of commercial and residential traffic – not to mention traffic coming to and from the Mobile Regional Airport – was visited by the department 20 times in the past 14 months.

"It's not surprising," Huffman said. "If you sit here and listen (to the scanner) every day as I do, the areas that pop up are I-10, 65, and, of course, Airport Boulevard."

Airport Boulevard

Of the Top 15 intersections requiring the Fire-Rescue's response, four are along Airport – the most of any street represented on the list. Firefighters have responded to crashes at 47 different links into Airport Boulevard since New Year's Day 2012.

City officials are aware of this, though the expensive costs of making any significant impact to alleviating Airport will likely prevent major reconstructive work from happening in the foreseeable future.

Top 15

The following list are intersections requiring the most attention from the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department from Jan. 1, 2012-March 10, 2013.

1. Airport & University

2. Schillinger & Cottage Hill Road

3. Dauphin & Springdale Blvd.

4. Schillinger & Grelot

5. Airport & Azalea

6. Dauphin & I-65 Service Road N

7. Airport & Schillinger

8. Cottage Hill Road & Azalea

9. Moffett Road & I-65 Service Road N

10. Government Blvd. & Azalea

11. Old Shell Road & University

12. Ziegler & University

13. Airport & Hillcrest

14. Government Blvd. & Demetropolis

15. Government Street & Broad Street

Airport was the subject of an elaborate study last year by traffic engineers who produced some dramatic overhaul proposals to the street as part of a project organized by Volkert and Associates. Proposals called for reconfiguring the major intersections between Snow Road and Sage Avenue allowing the center lanes to pass over the cross streets unabated by way of short bridges.

The plans are filed with the city and are available if policy makers opt to pursue them.

If they do, the projects will have to be prioritized. Estimated costs to improve Airport and University alone would be $15.3 million, according to the plan. Other Airport intersections are expensive – Schillinger ($13.2 million), Hillcrest ($11.4 million) and Interstate 65 to Sage ($6.3 million).

If funds are available, the city would prefer the first phase of the project – from I-65 to Sage – be given top priority in order to get the most "bang for our buck," according to Marybeth Bergin, assistant traffic engineering director.

Some might think the Airport and University work might not be money well spent.

Barbara Guarino, owner of Total Video Service at 4658 Airport Blvd., said that compared to other cities, the traffic woes along Airport are not a major concern.

"There have been wrecks out there, but I can't say there have been just gobs of them," Guarino said. "Compared to other cities, Airport to me isn't that terrible. You go to Atlanta and see what they have. I don't think we really have it that bad."

Guarino, whose business has been near Airport and University since 1987, said whenever there are crashes nearby, Fire-Rescue is quick to respond with minimal difficulty of maneuvering through the intersection.

"I am totally amazed how quickly that fire trucks can get through that intersection," she said. "Traffic parks for them to get through."

Other areas

Aside from intersections along Airport, other high-traffic areas along commercial corridors in west Mobile are among some of those requiring public attention from law enforcement and firefighters.

Schillinger and Cottage Hill roads, populated with fast food restaurants and Walgreen's, sees 40,000 vehicles a day and resulted in 18 calls for response from Fire-Rescue during the past 14 months. Schillinger and Grelot, Cottage Hill Road and Azalea, Ziegler and University and Old Shell Road and University also were high among locations for emergency responders.

Perhaps the most dangerous interchange in Mobile, according to Fire-Rescue reports, is in the area of Interstate 65 and its service road with Dauphin Street. Dauphin and Springdale Boulevard required 15 responses from firefighters, while the adjoining Dauphin and I-65 Service Road North had 13. Dauphin and Springdale attracts 50,000 vehicles a day.

Another I-65 Service Road area drawing emergency response is at Moffett Road, where crews responded to 12 incidences during the past 14 months.

"We do hear a lot of squeals and crashes throughout the day," Heather Jones, manager of American Freight Furniture & Mattress at 3404 Moffett Road, said. "Where our building faces, you can turn onto the interstate right there or you can go to the light and turn."

She's seen some dangerous behavior at the intersection, which generates about 35,000 vehicles a day.

"People will turn onto the interstate and think they are going the wrong way," Jones said. "They will stop and back up for whatever reason."

The closest intersection to downtown Mobile with the highest required Fire-Rescue responses was at Broad and Government streets.

Amber Guy, a spokeswoman with the Mobile Public Library with its administrative offices nearby, said most traffic back-ups affecting the Ben May Library are the result of either crashes at the Bankhead Tunnel or at Government and Broad.

"It definitely affects access at times to the library and other businesses downtown," said Guy, who was involved in a crash at Government and Broad in the late 1990s when someone ran a red light. "It doesn't surprise me that there are quite a few accidents out there."

Cpl. Christopher Levy, spokesman with the Mobile Police Department, said despite the heavy traffic along Airport and elsewhere, most traffic crashes are the result of human error and not poor traffic designs.

"What we found are that wrecks are caused by some element of poor driving such as running red lights, following too close, failure to yield right of way and speeding," Levy said. "Very little of it has to do with the intersection itself."

Road ahead

That doesn't mean the city doesn't have plans for some of the intersections, even if those getting the most attention from firefighters are not among them.

Along Airport, the only major project planned is a widening at McGregor Avenue. That project, slated for 2015, calls for creating a right-turn lane as well as a "minimal" widening of McGregor from Airport to Dauphin in order to incorporate a center-turn lane.

The $4 million project is considered a "high-ranking project" among those listed by the South Alabama Regional Planning Commission -- the region's metropolitan planning organization -- because of the level of congestion in the area.

The work at McGregor is primarily funded by federal money. That's not different than a lot of other projects along busy stretches of city and state roads where large investments are sometimes needed to study and then reconstruct.

"The federally funded projects require a full-blown environmental review that is required," Mobile City Engineer Nick Amberger said. "The jobs through the MPO are bigger jobs and have the funding source that addresses any potential concerns that are out there."

Other projects listed among those that generate high number of fire responses that are in the planning stages include widening and reconstructing Ziegler Boulevard from Forest Hill Road to Athey and from Cody to Schillinger roads. The project does not include Ziegler and University, which was highly ranked among those locations requiring firefighter assistance since Jan. 1, 2012.

Amberger said the $11 million Ziegler work from Forest Hill to Athey is slated for fiscal year 2014; while the $4.2 million stretch from Cody to Schillinger will go the following year.

"What those projects do is improve the radiuses and improve access and improve any of the striping associated (with the roads)," Amberger said.

Smaller projects at high-traffic intersections are also planned. Cody and Howells Ferry roads, an intersection requiring three visits by Fire-Rescue within the past 14 months, is planned for mid-summer and will involve an approximately $150,000 resurfacing.

Dauphin Street, from Sage Avenue to Spring Hill Memorial Hospital, is also on the city's radar, though no time tables have been established for that work.

And with very few projects imminent addressing major intersection problems, Levy and others say it's imperative for motorists to be careful while driving through some of these locations.

"Poor driving is what casues wrecks," he said. "Nothing would make us feel better than if everyone obeyed all the traffic laws all the time and we never had to write a ticket."