DATE: Wednesday, September 24, 1997         TAG: 9709240448

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: JEFFREY S. HAMPTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY                    LENGTH:   98 lines

THESE INTERSECTING ROADS LEAD TO CONFUSION U.S. 17 AREA MAY BE AS SAFE AS IT CAN BE

Oh what a tangled web exists at the intersection of Hughes Boulevard, Oak Stump Road and Ehringhaus Street.

``That intersection evolved like a small house,'' said Capt. Mervyn Raby of the Elizabeth City Police Department. ``As the family grew, they added a little piece here and a little piece there. Now it's like a runaway train out there.''

In a spot where five roads converge in nine intersections, shopping centers, fast food outlets and a high school draw 25,000 cars a day. And the design of the Hughes-Oak Stump-Ehringhaus intersection draws plenty of criticism.

Several times, engineers have been asked to redesign it, but it may already be as safe as it can be.

Northeastern High School, where nearly 2,000 students gather at 8 a.m. and leave at 3:30 p.m., is on Oak Stump Road near the intersection. More than 200 students and 100 staff members drive cars to the school. Several hundred parents deliver and collect their children, and a couple of dozen school buses drive in and out. Groups of students walk around.

Wal-Mart, Kmart, Shoney's and Hardee's are at the intersection's corners. And a new shopping center is in the works behind Hardee's.

The conglomeration of lights and lanes confuses motorists and traffic police alike.

Drivers exiting from Oak Stump Road have the option of turning left on Hughes Boulevard (U.S. 17) and driving south.

Or they can turn right on Hughes Boulevard from the left-most right-hand-turn lane or take a hard right onto Ehringhaus Street from the right-most right-hand-turn lane.

Or, there is always the option of driving straight into the Kmart parking lot.

Hundreds of people a day avoid the whole thing and cut through the Wal-Mart parking lot.

It's illegal to turn left from Ehringhaus Street onto Hughes Boulevard, which means you can't get to southbound U.S. 17 from there.

``I have no idea how it's supposed to work,'' said Sgt. Jason Banks of the Elizabeth City Police Department.

Police have been forgiving to motorists involved in fender-benders there. ``Usually we don't issue tickets unless there is a real blatant violation or a serious accident.''

The intersection used to be worse, say engineers from the North Carolina Department of Transportation. In 1990, when Wal-Mart arrived, NCDOT stopped allowing left turns from Ehringhaus Street to Hughes Boulevard in order to relieve some of the congestion.

Residents of Elizabeth City have complained since then about not being able to make that left turn. A right turn sends motorists back where they came from. Last week the City Council directed City Manager Steve Harrell to write a letter asking NCDOT to revisit the intersection. The same request was sent about six months ago.

``We have no suggestions other than everyone in the community I've talked to would like to see Ehringhaus go through like it did before,'' Harrell said.

But NCDOT officials are hesitant to change what seems to be working.

``There were a whole lot more accidents on it before it was changed,'' said Don Conner, district engineer for the transportation department.

In the three years before the intersection was changed in 1990, there were 50 accidents. From July 1994 through June 1996, there were 31, according to records at NCDOT in Raleigh. The Oak Stump-Hughes-Ehringhaus intersection is eighth in the city for the number of accidents that occur there.

Raby said the makeup of the intersection actually causes more accidents at other nearby intersections.

Because people cannot turn left onto Hughes Boulevard from Ehringhaus Street, they take Halstead Boulevard, which is north of the intersection, to get to Hughes. That way they can take Hughes through the intersection and continue on U.S. 17.

The Halstead-Ehringhaus intersection and the Halstead-Hughes intersection are first and third, respectively, in auto accidents, accounting for 144 of the 700 accidents in the city last year.

Another reason for the reduced number of accidents is the amount of traffic supervision. Elizabeth City police, sometimes three at a time, help direct traffic if necessary. Deputies from the Pasquotank County Sheriff's Department direct bus traffic after school hours. Staff from Northeastern High School, including the principal and assistant principal, direct traffic at the two school lot exits.

``I don't know the numbers, but we really have trouble dealing with the traffic every afternoon,'' said Glen Harris, NHS assistant principal.

Several months ago, the city staff videotaped the afternoon crush after school lets out. Within 30 minutes the whole place had cleared and traffic was flowing.

``I'm not going to tell you it's the most convenient intersection,'' Conner said. ``But there may not be a more safe solution other than to leave it like it is.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot

Intersections along U.S. 17 in Elizabeth City cause problems for

motorists since they are complex, but engineers say the present

configuration may be the safest.

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