A sometimes fatal stretch of N.C. 751 may soon become a little safer.
In a memo Oct. 14, the North Carolina Department of Transportation recommended additional road safety measures, including additional signage, be placed along a section of N.C. 751 nearby Duke’s campus. Known locally as Academy Road, the road winds into a particularly sharp curve. The curve is located approximately 200 feet south of the intersection of Academy Road and Duke University Road, according to a report filed by Kelly Becker, a regional traffic engineer for the NCDOT.
It has been recommended that the NCDOT replace the chevron sign inside of the curve and add two new chevron signs on the outside of the curve. The existing curve warning sign on southbound N.C. 751 should be moved further north of the curve to alert drivers sooner. It was also recommended that a second warning sign be placed along the northbound side of the road and an object marker be added to the 35-mph speed limit sign near the intersection of N.C. 751 and Cranford Road, according to the report.
The curve in question has been the site of three fatal accidents since 1992, Becker said. The most recent occurred Sept. 15 when senior Matthew Grape, a passenger in the car, was killed after the vehicle went off the road and crashed into a tree. The vehicle was traveling along the road at 65 mph, according a Durham Police Department incident report.
The NCDOT recommendations followed an investigation of the site after the accident Sept. 15, Becker noted.
Two prior accidents, one in 1992 and the other in 1997, occurred along the curve and resulted in four deaths. The vehicles were traveling at 85 mph and 80 mph respectively, Becker said. All three accidents involved impaired driving.
“The speed had a lot to do with those crashes,” Becker said. “The curve can be handled well if you’re going the speed limit. The excessive speeds in collaboration with the impaired driving made it dangerous.”
Five non-fatal accidents also occurred at the curve between August 2006 and July 2011, Becker noted. Only one of the five resulted in injuries to the passenger.
Although plans are not definite, the recommendations could be implemented in the next two to four weeks, Becker said. Duke officials will likely not be notified of the additional signage since the area is located off campus.
The report also requested that the Governor’s Highway Safety Program within the NCDOT work with DPD to reduce impaired driving and chronic speeding.
Because the recommendations were only recently issued, safety program officials will need additional time to evaluate them and develop specific initiatives in conjunction with Durham Police, said Steve Abbott, a communications officer for the NCDOT. Officials may also coordinate with Duke administrators given that most recent accident involved Duke students.
“Each situation is different,” Abbott said. “There might be a grant to help with a particular program. We always want to work with law enforcement and perhaps the University.”
DPD has had a well-established relationship with the highway safety program, DPD Public Information Officer Kammie Michael said. Officers, for example, participate in the statewide “Booze It and Lose It” and “Click It or Ticket” campaigns.
“Durham police officers focus on speed enforcement in addition to the [driving while impaired] and seatbelt campaigns,” Michael wrote in an email Monday. “[The recommended programs] would target anyone who is violating the impaired driving laws.”
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