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By Ashley Fuller
Cherokee Tribune Staff Writer
A Canton woman is working to improve safety for drivers on Highway 140.
Kristina Pool wants to see a Canton intersection on the road, also known as Hickory Flat Highway, become a less dangerous one.
She is lobbying state officials to install a traffic light and guardrails at the intersection of the highway and her neighborhood, Cherokee Overlook.
Two people were killed in a car crash at the intersection on Christmas Eve. The driver of a Buick went off the road, overcorrected and hit a westbound Ford Mustang, according to the Georgia State Patrol.
"When we drove out of the neighborhood to go to church, we witnessed the aftermath," she said.
After the accident, Ms. Pool sent a letter to the Georgia Department of Transportation asking for a traffic light and a guardrail. Her request was denied.
Mohamed Arafa, spokesman for the DOT, said there are no safety improvements planned at the intersection.
He said three other intersection improvements are under construction on Highway 140: at its intersections with Sugar Pike, Hickory and Univeter Roads. Those improvements are scheduled to be complete by March of 2009.
Garland Pinholster of Ball Ground, a member of the state DOT board, said he and Canton Mayor Gene Hobgood recently met with a department official about Ms. Pool's concerns.
Hobgood said it is his understanding the agency will review the situation to see if any improvements can be made, "even if it is just signage."
"Anytime there is a serious or tragic accident, you want to take a look at the area to see if the sight distance or the curvature of the road played a part in it," Hobgood said.
Ms. Pool said she hopes state officials hear her pleas and make improvements to the highway.
"The reason I am doing this is to make it safer and easier and hopefully never see another Christmas Eve tragedy in my neighborhood," she said. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes. I don't care how high up the state government I have to go."
afuller@cherokeetribune.com
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