Drivers want change at ‘suicidal’ intersection

NEW HANOVER COUNTY (WWAY) — Some New Hanover County residents are saying a busy intersection is dangerous.

The highway patrol says five accidents have happened at Cathay and Carolina Beach roads since January.

They want this problem fixed. They say on a busy day, sitting at the traffic light and making a turn makes them nervous.

Resident Victor Wilson says “We’re losing people. It’s a suicidal intersection.”

He lives on Cathay road and often drives through this intersection with unease.

“It’s just a nightmare. The people coming south on 421, they’ll run that red light in a heartbeat,” Wilson said.

Cindy Ward also lives nearby and is extremely cautious before making any turns.

“A lot of people are speeding and not having patience while they’re driving, and I think that’s what’s causing a lot of problems at that light there and the accidents that are there,” Ward stated.

The most recent accident happened Saturday night when a driver made a left turn, and crashed head on with a vehicle heading south.

The NCDOT says just days before this crash, a resident notified them with concerns about this intersection, and asked them to take a look at the light.

Driver Jerry Dickens hopes something will change because the intersection confuses him.

“When the people up here has the flashing yellow light to turn left onto Cathay Road, and the people coming down Carolina Beach Road that’s making a right onto Cathay Road, who has the right away?” Dickens said. “The people turning left, or the people turning right?”

The DOT says they have requested the 5-year traffic history of this intersection from the highway patrol.

Once the DOT receives the report, they say they will move forward with an investigation.

They’ve also requested the crash patterns to see if there is a particular time of the day these accidents are happening.

The investigation could start a couple of weeks from now to the beginning of next year.