A highway intersection that’s seen serious accidents over the years is getting a new layout.
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) confirmed that RCUT (Reduced Conflict U-Turn) lanes are going in at the intersection of Highway 515 and Whitestone Road near the Gilmer/Pickens County line.
The change in the intersection’s design will prevent vehicles on Whitestone Road from crossing or making left turns onto the highway. Instead, U-turn lanes farther down the road will be used for left turns.
“We’ll be updating the medians both north and south of the intersection to allow U-turns,” said Joe Schulman, of GDOT’s district 6 office.
The intersection, which has limited sight distance for oncoming vehicles, especially in the northbound lane of 515, is often used by transfer trucks going to and from the nearby Imerys rock and gravel plant. In 2016, a tour bus headed to North Carolina collided with a truck and trailer that had extended into the northbound lane of the highway. The driver of the bus was killed, and several passengers injured.
This will be the third set of RCUTs that GDOT has installed on Highway 515 between Talking Rock and East Ellijay. They are normally
installed at busy intersections to help prevent severe accidents including head-on and angle crashes. A similar design was put at the intersection of 515 and Antioch Church Road
and another at the Highway 382 extension onto 515.
Another set of RCUTs is expected to eventually be put at the intersection of 515 and Old Highway 5 North. The Ellijay City Council expressed its support for that change proposed by GDOT when the council met in February, but a start date for the project has not been announced.
Clearing and grading work recently began at the Whitestone Road intersection. The entire project is expected to be completed by the end of this year, Schulman noted.