Lizella Residents Say State is Taking Too Long to Install Safety Measures on Eisenhower Parkway

LIZELLA, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A dangerous roadway in Bibb County has residents demanding officials take action to make it safer. People who live off Eisenhower Parkway in Lizella say accidents happen on that stretch of highway too often. Plans are in the works to deter speeding in that area, but residents say it is taking too long and it is only a matter of time until the next crash happens.

It is a quiet stretch of road that is haunted by memories of car crashes.

“I’ve been living here for 10 years. I’ve seen some god awful wrecks up here,” Lizella resident Randy Long said.

“Seems like there’s an accident once a month over here,” Lizella resident Suzy Heald said.

Accidents are an all too common sight for Lizella residents who live off Eisenhower Parkway. They say driver speed down the road, cars dangerously pass other vehicles, and there is the occasional fender bender.

“We’ve had problems there for many years and it’s really getting worse as the days go by,” Bibb County commissioner Joe Allen said.

Bibb County is working with the Georgia Department of Transportation to install two roundabouts at the intersection of Knoxville and Holly Roads. GDOT also plans to put a red light at the Fulton Mill Road intersection which is the same spot where a woman died two months ago.

“Those three intersections out there in Lizella is something that has to be taken care of as soon a possible,” Allen said.

Plans to put the roundabouts at the intersections have been in the works for more than a year. Officials say it just takes time, but people how live in the area believe something needs to be done now.

“I don’t know if a roundabout is the right thing to do. I actually think a light would be the right thing,” Long said.

“Something can be done and they’re not doing anything about it, nothing’s been done yet,” Heald said.

The state is listening and residents say it is time for action.

“I’m sorry this has taken so long to happen, to get what we finally have been needing for years out there, but finally they understand, the state understands, [that] this is a priority,” Allen said. “We’ve lost some lives out there, I don’t want to see anyone else lose their life.”

Allen says the county commissioners plan to talk about the new red light at the Fulton Mill Raod intersection during next week’s committee meetings. He hopes we will start to see action taken on these new safety measures within the next three months.