ATLANTA — Roswell officials are looking at ways to address Georgia Highway 9 between the Chattahoochee River, a stretch of road some call the most dangerous in the city.
"A very dangerous intersection," said Transportation Director Steve Acenbrak. "Going up the hill is very dangerous."
For years the city had to reverse two of the three lanes during peak traffic times, sending two lanes of traffic south, one lane north, in the morning, and two lanes of traffic north, one lane south, in the evening. At night, Acenbrak said the city blocks out one entire lane, leaving one lane going north, the other going south.
"They are economical, but they are dangerous," he said.
Channel 2's Mike Petchenik requested a list of accidents along that stretch dating back three years. According to records, there have been 375 accidents along the road dating back to 2008. Records showed about 25 percent of those wrecks resulted in injuries.
"A lot of head-on collisions, people being side-swiped," said Roswell police officer Lisa Holland. "It's confusing because the X's and arrows were designed way back when there was not a lot of traffic."
Acenbrak told Petchenik the city is studying ways to widen Highway 9 to four more lanes so it can do away with the reversible lane concept. Last September, the city hired a design firm to head up the study.
"The first challenge we have is figuring out how to successfully add the amount of lanes we need in the very narrow corridor," he said.
Acenbrak said the city was soliciting feedback from stakeholders, including businesses along the corridor, as well as from travelers. The city held a meeting Thursday night to hear from residents.
"We want to hear what their concerns are and what their issues are," he said.