With all the people coming in and out of Zetus Grocery, onething Sue Durr said she can count on hearing people talk about isthe proposed changes at the dangerous intersection ofJackson-Liberty Drive and Highway 84.

“It’s about time somebody did something,” she said. “I hope thisworks, because too many people are being injured and losing theirlives there, and it has seemed like nobody cared enough to dosomething about it.”

Meanwhile, a petition to the Mississippi Department ofTransportation for a four-way stop or other preventative measuresat Laird’s Crossing started by Zetus Volunteer Fire DepartmentChief Dale Anding has now popped up at Zetus Grocery and inbusinesses all over western Lincoln County.

Anding said when his department left their last meeting with thepetition, there were 20 copies, and copies have been made of thecopies and distributed all over the county.

He said there may be as many as 2,500 signatures asking MDOT tokeep up the work toward correcting the problem at the deadlyinterchange. They are due back in to department officials at ameeting next Thursday.

“I’ve gotten nothing but support from the community, everyone Italk to says they think it’s a really good thing,” he said. “Wereally hope it makes a difference, because the community feels likethis is what needs to be done.”

Anding and members of his department were, at first, pushingspecifically for a four-way stop, pointing to the intersection ofHighway 84 and East Lincoln Road as an example of how such aninterchange can help save lives. But MDOT officials said Laird’sCrossing doesn’t meet the criteria needed to do that.

“According to national standards, we can’t just put up stops andsignals except where they meet the right criteria,” said MDOTSouthern District Commissioner Wayne Brown. “We conform to thosestandards, and by conforming to those standards we can get federalfunds to do these projects. We could tell those standards goodbye,and we’d be telling those funds goodbye.”

But Anding said he is still bothered by the fact that every timethere is an accident, it affects the very small West Lincolncommunity directly.

“If they say it doesn’t meet the criteria for a four-way andthey’re not going to put one, if their mind is made up, then we’rehappy with whatever we can get out there,” Anding said. “This isvery personal to me because I have a teenage daughter that drives acar and goes to West Lincoln school, and knowing the possibility ofthe danger there, we don’t want to go to another wreck that is thedaughter or son of anyone in the community, or anyone else for thatmatter.”

Brown said the interchange also does not meet criteria for a redand green stoplight, as those are installed strictly to helpcontrol traffic flow. They are not put in as safety measures.

While officials are having a hard time pinning down exactnumbers of accidents that have taken place at the intersectioncommonly known as Laird’s Crossing, since different sources allhave different figures, one thing they all say is certain – thereare too many.

A study dating from 2006 through March 2009 compiled byMississippi Highway Patrol Traffic Records Coordinator RonaldSennett shows 36 accidents worked by Highway Patrol and the LincolnCounty Sheriff’s Department at Laird’s Crossing, which is threetimes the number of accidents at any other intersection alongHighway 84 in Lincoln County. The next closest intersection was theintersection of Jackson-Liberty and Highway 550, with 24accidents.

The intersection of Highway 84 and Auburn Drive has recorded 13wrecks since January of 2006, according to the MHP study, with theintersection of Highway 84 and East Lincoln Road showing nine.

“No matter what numbers you’re looking at, it’s still a verydangerous intersection,” said Sheriff Steve Rushing, who lives inthe West Lincoln community. “And that’s also based on my priorknowledge of it.”

But MDOT Executive Director Butch Brown said MDOT and LincolnCounty are putting their heads together to make the situation muchbetter for those people using the interchange.

“This is a cooperative adventure between us and the county tomake this intersection safer,” he said.