BEAUMONT— A rash of accidents in one year highlighted a necessary change the City of Beaumont needed to make at the intersection of Magnolia and Calder.
“We discovered that we had 12 wrecks in a 12-month period, and the minimum requirement for the stop sign would be five wrecks in a 12-month period,” said Bart Bartkowiak, Public Works Director for the City of Beaumont.
It’s an easy drive down Calder Avenue with little traffic until you reach the intersection at Magnolia.
For motorists like Johnathan McCowan, a new addition to the intersection has become an inconvenience.
“It’s a little confusing because I don’t understand why they made the change,” McCowan said.
Traffic studies conducted by Beaumont Public Works indicated that the Calder and Magnolia intersection needed an additional stop sign for driver safety.
“Most of the wrecks at this intersection were people at the stop sign on Magnolia, and the people on Calder didn’t have a stop sign,” Bartkowiak said.
The Public Works Department believes this will address an ongoing problem.
“It could probably address some of the issues they’ve noticed, but right now it’s an inconvenience,” McCowan says.
According to Public Works, 20 to 30 traffic studies are being conducted at any given time to understand the safety needs of roads and intersections in Beaumont.
KFDM/Fox 4’s Mya Caleb reports.