La Grange intersection considered safe despite hog truck crash Wednesday

A hog truck rollover Wednesday that shut down the intersection of N.C. 903 North and Jenny Lind Road for several hours is a rare occurrence in an intersection that is accident-free for the most part, according to state transportation officials.

An 18-wheeler tractor trailer packed with hogs had stopped to make a left turn onto the 903 overpass, but turned over on its side as the driver tried to turn. An estimated 30 hogs were killed, but the cause was still unknown as of press time Thursday.

Steve Hamilton, traffic engineer with the N.C. Department of Transportation's Division 2 office in Greenville, said Thursday that four crashes have occurred at that intersection in the past three years, not including Wednesday's incident.

One wreck happened when a vehicle made a left turn into the path of an oncoming car; the rest involved single vehicles running off the road.

Hamilton explained that the low number of crashes gives the intersection a "severity index" of 6.55.

"I've seen them in the hundreds," he said of severity indexes for the state's high-volume intersections located in urban areas.

"No matter what, you can expect that there's going to be some crashes occurring based on the volume," Hamilton said.

By comparison, Hamilton said the intersection of N.C. 11 and U.S. 70 at Skinner's Bypass experiences an average of 30-40 crashes per year.

"It seems like we have one there weekly," Sgt. G.S. Hemby of the State Highway Patrol's Kinston station said.

Hemby, who has been at the Kinston station for about eight years, said many local accidents also occur within the city limits.

He said few crashes have happened at the N.C. 903 intersection in recent years, though.

Wednesday evening's wreck was the second to occur in that intersection this year. The first took place in February when a driver took the left-hand turn too fast and ran off the road, Hamilton said.

That intersection is designed as a standard "diamond interchange" - N.C. 903 and U.S. 70 come together, and then 903 splits to the right and curves back to the left, crossing over 70. N.C. 903 forms a "T-intersection" with Jenny Lind Road.

Drivers heading north on 903 come to a stop sign and can either turn left and head toward La Grange, or turn right and head away from town.

La Grange Police Chief John Sullivan, who has spent 15 years with the department, said drivers risk running off the road if they take the turn too fast or don't stop at the stop sign.

"As long as you use caution and obey the traffic laws, I don't see where it's any more hazardous than any other intersection," Sullivan said.

David Anderson can be reached at (252) 559-1077 or danderson@freedomenc.com.