A Springville councilman hopes adding guardrails to Mountain View Drive can help reduce the number of accidents occurring at the steep curve. “If you don’t know about this curve, it’s very easy to continue on straight and over the hill,” Councilman William “Butch” Isley said. “We have to do something about this.”
Isley recommended the council get an estimate on the cost to install a barrier. He said he hopes to get help from the County Commission to get the barrier installed.
Councilman Wayne Tucker said installing the barrier could become a major expense because of the narrow shoulder in the curve.
“There really isn’t any shoulder in the curve to plant a guardrail,” he said. “You have to put them pretty deep to serve their purpose.”
Police Chief Ron Black agrees with Isley that a guardrail would help in case of an accident in the curve; however, he believes speed is the major cause of the accidents in that curve. The posted speed limit is 30 mph.
“Most of the wrecks that have occurred are because people are going too fast through the curve. If they’re going 30 mph or less there’s no problem, even in the rain,” Black said. “A guardrail would keep the debris in the roadway and maybe prevent cars from leaving the roadway when there is an accident.”
Black said right now, trees keep cars from plunging down the hill.
“If someone comes in and clears those trees, it could mean more trouble,” Black said.
Black said 15 single-vehicle accidents have occurred along the stretch between Newton Road and U.S. 11 since 2004. Five were with injuries.
Isley believes more than a posted speed limit is needed.
“Signage, I’m sure, has helped,” he said. “But more should be done.”
