Tami Trzeciak knew the intersection at Maple Street and Razorback Road was a little peculiar.
The four-way intersection just north of Razorback Stadium has, for decades, required motorists on three sides to stop. Those unfamiliar with the free-flowing westbound traffic on Maple Street had to quickly figure it out or risk a crash.
That is until Thursday when Arkansas Highway and Transportation crews installed a four-way stop as a result of an email Trzeciak sent May 2.
On March 10, a University of Arkansas freshman stopped at the intersection, then accelerated into Trzeciak’s vehicle as she drove west on Maple into the intersection. The bookkeeper for the university math department bought her blue 2007 Toyota Prius just three months before.
At A Glance
Words of Warning
The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department will place a message board on Maple Street for the next 30 days to familiarize westbound drivers of the new requirement they stop at Maple and Razorback Road.
Source: Staff Report
“She assumed I was going to stop,” Trzeciak said.
Trzeciak’s car was totaled and she suffered scratches and bruising, but nobody was seriously injured. Still, the dangers of that intersection continued to bug the nine-year university employee.
“I was concerned,” Trzeciak said. “With traffic and the continuing distractions people have with their driving, I could see it getting worse.”
Trzeciak emailed the Highway Department questioning why a four-way stop wouldn’t make better sense.
Eight weeks later, the four-way stop is a reality.
“I’ve been here 33 years and it was that way when I came,” said Lt. Gary Crain of the university’s Police Department.
Maple Street and Razorback Road’s peculiarity hasn’t caused an unusually high number of accidents caused by right of way mistakes — three recorded by the UAPD since January 2011 — but Crain said it has caught people off guard.
“I’ve heard comments from other citizens who said they didn’t know why it wasn’t a four-way stop, especially people who were just passing through and weren’t that familiar,” Crain said.
Randy Ort, Highway Department spokesman, said it’s not unusual for a single inquiry from a motorist to drive changes to an intersection.
“People can contact us whether by email, by phone or in person, and if it’s a situation that warrants us looking into, that’s our job,” Ort said.
Razorback Road is slated for widening and a traffic signal at Maple and Razorback. That project isn’t yet funded, Ort said. Trzeciak’s email triggered a review of traffic counts that demonstrated a change was appropriate until the widening happens, he said.
Trzeciak replaced her wrecked car with a pale green 2009 Prius. She’s been avoiding Maple and Razorback since the accident, but planned Thursday to drive home that way to see the outcome of her inquiry.
Crain warned the change won’t make the intersection accident free. Since January 2011, seven other accidents happened there. They were crashes in which a motorist slammed into the back of another vehicle stopped at one of the three stop signs. Now, there are four stop signs.
“Any intersection is dangerous if you’re not paying attention,” he said.