An oversight by the City of Douglas regarding the placement of its eastern gateway sign on Ward St. presents a serious danger to commuters with the potential to cause major traffic accidents.
Douglas Now was contacted Friday afternoon by a local driver who wished to remain anonymous. The driver stated he was in the northbound lane at the stop sign at the intersection of N. Coweta and E. Ward when he realized the gateway sign severely obstructed his view of oncoming westbound traffic on E. Ward.
“If you stop at the crossing where it is marked, you can’t see but a few feet down Ward (Street),” the driver said. “I had to pull up beyond the stop sign with the front of my car in the path of traffic in order to see. I think that someone is seriously going to get hurt, especially with cars running upwards of 40 to 50 miles per hour through that stretch of road.”
Douglas Now conducted their own investigation at the intersection and observed the anonymous driver’s observations to be mostly accurate. If a vehicle stops at the at the designated crossing in question, it is nearly impossible to see oncoming traffic beyond a few dozen feet due to the gateway sign’s placement.
The photo above was sent to Douglas Now and shows a driver’s position if stopped at the designated area. The photo below shows how far one must pull forward in order to safely view oncoming traffic at the intersection
