The proposed upgrade to 72 is nice but we only need a Ford not a Lincoln. I said the proposal is too expensive and a 2010 (construction) start date is unacceptable. The fact that people are being killed on this road is real. Starting to fix the road in 2010 and completing it three or more years (2013-2015) is not realistic and is a poor answer to fixing our problem. The existing right of way would allow the installation of the outer turn lane now. The study effort and material we have is enough to be able to start this task, and at a third of the cost. What is needed is a center turn lane and right turn lanes at all intersecting roads. The proposed right of way can still be done as a separate task and in accordance with your 2010 schedule – that is where a big share of the cost is...

In June 2009, I wrote this letter to Gov. Bob Riley:

I wish I did not have to keep revisiting the status of U.S. 72 between the Elk River and Athens, but we have had another death on 72 and it is time that business-as-usual and the no-change way of doing business to come to a halt. With trash trucks, farm tractors, mail vehicles and the like, which are stop-and-go vehicles, and no left- or right-turn lanes, we are asking for another accident to happen. The many deaths and injuries bear this out.

It seems to me that if a special project like Volkswagen can be moved up to a two- or three-year project, so can the highway 72 improvements, which are going on five years and an estimated completion date of 2016. The word is, the death toll is 30 plus and counting. What will it be by 2016? The accidents are not a problem of speeding but, rather, lack of safety. What is needed are right- and left-turn lanes at intersections and businesses, traffic lights in school areas and improved ways to keep stop-and-go vehicles off the main lanes of the highway, such as shoulders wide enough for these vehicles to use without impacting the main right of way lanes.

It is the middle of 2009 and construction of the improvements still has not begun.

Sincerely,

Al Westlake

Athens