City of Savannah upgrades lighting at dangerous intersection

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - For drivers and pedestrians, new and brighter lighting in the area is just one of the solutions to a sometimes deadly problem at the intersection of MLK and Bay St.

District 2 Alderman Detric Leggett says at night this is a high traffic and unsafe area.

“It was impossible for drivers to see people walking in the crosswalk,” said Leggett.

It’s all a part of Savannah’s Vision Zero program.

“What we wanted to do is find a way that we can create a low cost, low impact situation but increase the safety aspect and also increase the visibility of that whole intersection,” said Harold Taylor, Transportation Coordinator at Vision Zero.

Harold Taylor is the Transportation Coordinator and says crashes, injuries and deaths here became too frequent and had to be looked into.

“West Bay and MLK definitely made itself susceptible to a field audit for us to look at ways to increase safety,” said Taylor.

But he says it doesn’t stop here.

Soon, people could expect timing on the traffic signals to change.

And possibly crosswalk changes, here and in other areas of the city.

“We’ve been receiving some word even from the general public about where they feel as though we need to make some more improvements so we’re actually taking that and assessing it at our desks as well,” said Taylor.

Alderman Leggett says this is his area, and he’s glad to see changes to keep the community safer.

“We want to make sure that we address that in real time,” said Leggett.