NCDOT will remove traffic light on U.S. 258

The N.C. Department of Transportation will soon eliminate a traffic signal it has determined is unnecessary -- and many travelers and businesses aren't happy with the decision.

A traffic light on U.S. 258 at the Piggly Wiggly and near the new Wal-Mart does not meet the federal warrants in place, so NCDOT plans to remove it Dec. 4, said Ben Hughes with the NCDOT highway division office in Wilmington.

"On November 4, we put the signal into flash mode," he said. "The process in place is that it has to flash for 30 days prior to physically removing the equipment."

He said their investigation and traffic counts determined the signal does not meet federal requirements.

"There has been a lot of research done with unwarranted traffic signals," Hughes said. "There is the possibility of having increased traffic accidents directly related to the unwarranted signal - when you get a back-up at traffic queues there is often actually an increase in accidents because it creates problems at the other signal, and by removal it often decreases accidents."

Dan Cumbo, also with NCDOT highway division, said his office received several complaints about the signal, which prompted an investigation.

"We were getting complaints from citizens that the close proximity of this light to the signal at N.C. 24 and N.C. 53 has caused traffic back-ups at (that) larger intersection," he said. "This area went through a redesign with the bypass and Wal-Mart ... and the proximity of the new light is very close, which generated complaints."

Cumbo said the change in traffic patterns, increased growth and increased traffic brought more attention to the intersection.

Joseph Kawalski of Jacksonville is a frequent traveler and thinks removing the signal will be dangerous.

"Somebody's daughter, wife ... is going to get killed," he said. "People are going to pull out (onto N.C. 258) and there's going to be accidents."

He also believes removing the light will negatively impact the businesses there.

"This is going to hurt the people of Jacksonville, and the whole economy in that stretch is going to suffer because people will stop shopping there," Kawalski said. "They never asked me or the public how we feel about it - they could have done a vote, but they never did."

Preston Taylor, the manager of the Piggly Wiggly, said he feels the signal should stay. He said many of the store's customers have signed a petition against its removal.

"(The signal) has been there for over 20 years - if it was needed then, it certainly is needed now with all this growth," Taylor said. "It makes no sense to me at all why they want to take it out; in fact they just upgraded the light this past summer."

Since the light has been blinking, Taylor said there have been several close calls.

"We have had several people that have had near accidents out there and traffic is not flowing any better, I can tell you that," he said.

He contacted NCDOT Nov. 5, the day after the light was changed to flashing, to ask them about it. Their response prompted the petition.

"They told me they had done a study and they changed the light to flashing for 30 days while they took public comment," Taylor said. "That's why I decided to do a petition."

Taylor said as of early Friday afternoon he had approximately 1,320 signatures on the petition and planned on delivering the 60-plus pages of names to NCDOT either that day or Monday, while continuing to collect additional signatures.

Audrey Spence, the manager of the Handy Mart-Exxon station across from the Piggly Wiggly, said she collected signatures and gave them to Taylor.

"It's going to cause a major problem for customers and vendors, and someone is going to get hurt," Spence said. "I think it is a mistake, and everybody we talked to wanted to sign a petition - some of them even asked who to call and said they planned to call DOT themselves to complain."

The removal of the light, she said, will also hurt business.

"There are many times a day ... when you can't get in and out due to the amount of traffic that goes by here," she said.

Spence said she herself was almost involved in an accident at the flashing light.

"I feared I was going to be the first person involved in an accident, when I had an incident the other day as I was pulling out ... and almost got hit," she said. "This is going to cause major accidents."

Contact Topsail area reporter Suzanne Ulbrich at sulbrich@freedomenc.com or 910-219-8454.