A caution light will be replaced with a stoplight at a dangerous intersection thanks to a petition circulated by the public and years of citizen advocacy.
The Georgia Department of Transportation announced this week that the intersection of Highway 67 and Nevils Denmark Road in Bulloch County will soon be equipped with a stop light, an upgrade from the current flashing caution light that moderates the 4-way intersection.
Where Brooklet-Denmark turns to Nevils-Denmark Road, it also crosses Highway 67 – a corridor connecting Statesboro and the outer limits of smaller communities, like Nevils and Brooklet, to Interstate 16 and Bryan County. For years, the connection point has been deemed ‘the Devil’s Triangle,’ also including the intersection of Nevils Denmark at Highway 46, where critical and fatal crashes have claimed the lives of travelers. But as the area has grown, so has the number of accidents – deadly or not – for reasons ranging from speed and heavy tractor trailer traffic to intersection angles and even vision impaired by the sun. That’s why Bulloch County residents never stopped calling for change.
Bulloch County Commissioners have fielded complaints for years, but because Highway 67 is a state road, it falls under the purview of the Georgia Department of Transportation, not the county. Last fall, they asked for the help of state lawmakers for help, including State Representative Jan Tankersley and Senator Billy Hickman.
Not only has traffic flow increased on the road, Highway 67 was just expanded from two lanes to four. Residents have long worried the problem will only be exacerbated by the wider highway, especially for the many school buses and agriculture vehicles that frequently cross the busy state highway and the young drivers traveling from the high school.
But relief is on the way.
There is no timeline yet, but GDOT officials are hopeful to have the light installed by the end of 2021.
