Editorial: Dragging their feet

It’s been more than six months since three lives were lost at the intersection of U.S. Highway 70 and Triplett Road.

The N.C. Department of Transportation has still not installed permanent flashing lights at the deadly interchange.Three crosses serve as a reminder to the thousands of motorists who pass by every day.

The families of those who died have their own daily reminder, and they can’t believe the NCDOT says those thousands of motorists aren’t enough to justify a traffic light. What’s more, the NCDOT said a traffic light was needed less than a mile down the road at the intersection of the old U.S. 70 and the new U.S. 70.

A traffic light isn’t necessary at the Triplett interchange — where three people were killed — because there isn’t enough traffic flow, transportation officials claim. Instead, a caution light will be erected in the next 30 to 45 days, according to an NCDOT official.

While the department drags its feet, thousands of motorists are flying down U.S. 70, which worries Michael Dishman, whose father, Mike, was killed at the intersection Oct. 7. Dishman said his father knew the unlighted intersection would be dangerous.

“He said, ‘Son, somebody’s going to get killed or hurt bad.’ Not one week later, I was getting a phone call and it was him that had died,” Dishman said.

It’s a shame the NCDOT has yet to recognize what this community has known for months.

Amber Tolbert, whose 3-year-old daughter, Casey, and ex-mother-in-law, Cathy, were killed in a wreck Oct. 20, asked if it was going to take a school bus collision to get a light at Triplett.

We hope not.