CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – In 2016, Sarah Williams lost three of her cousins – Teresa King, Sean Settle and Devin Fillingham – in a head-on collision at the 41A Bypass and Edmondson Ferry Road.
According to Williams, a driver had moved out of their lane to pass another driver, causing the collision.
“People go so fast. There’s no sight line from Edmonson Ferry (Road) to Riverside (Drive). You can’t see anything there,” said Williams, now a student at Austin Peay State University. “It was an accident that had no reason to happen. It killed my family members and the person in the other vehicle.”
Two fatal crashes this month on the 41A Bypass, sometimes referred to as Ashland City Road, have drawn new calls for safety improvements on the road, which combines 50 mph speeds with narrow shoulders, hills, curves and several business driveways.
Williams said she believes a recently installed traffic light at Edmondson Ferry has helped alleviate some safety concerns, but others remain, including the lack of guardrails on some portions of the highway and a difficult lane merger near Avondale Drive.
Two fatal wrecks draw attention
On March 4, a truck left the roadway on the Bypass near Apostolic Lighthouse Church, traveling down an embankment and hitting a tree. The driver, 53-year-old Robert Burns, died at the scene.
Less than two weeks later, a crash at the Avalon Drive intersection involving four vehicles resulted in the death of Michelle Lazu, 28, a mother of four.
Angie, a manager at Dollar General on the Bypass who asked that her last name not be used, said she has seen several wrecks at the intersection in front of the store, mostly caused by speeding drivers.
“It was bound to happen, since everybody’s so used to doing 50,” Angie said. “It isn’t slowing them down.”
City of Clarksville responds
City of Clarksville spokesman Richard Stevens said city officials were aware of the wrecks as well as calls for improvements, however, 41A is a state highway and under the purview of the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
The city has worked with the state for improvements to the Bypass in the past. In 2018, contractors completed a $1.2 million traffic light addition at the Bypass and Edmondson Ferry. The project was funded by the city through TDOT.
TDOT investigates
Clarksville Now spoke with Shay Deason, an operations manager for TDOT Region 3.
The 41A Bypass was constructed in the early 1960s, according to Leaf Chronicle archives. The Bypass is grandfathered in under old safety standards. and that updates would require a considerable amount of time and money Deason said.
In response to questions from Clarksville Now, the TDOT traffic office has reviewed recent crash data and found that no specific part of the Bypass was creating issues, said TDOT Community Relations Officer Kathryn Schulte.
The traffic office has since requested funding from the Federal Highway Administration to complete a safety audit of the Bypass, a process that could begin by mid-June and is expected to take some time, Schulte said.