Oak Ridge Today

Travel still discouraged; no serious accidents reported in Anderson

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Icy Roads in Oliver Springs

Roads remained ice-covered in Oak Ridge on Tuesday, and there was little traffic as officials urged people to not drive unless absolutely necessary. Here is a picture taken Monday of State Route 62, also known as North Illinois Avenue or East Tri County Boulevard, headed into Oliver Springs from Oak Ridge. (Photo by Marilyn Cook-Wynn)

 

Information from WYSH Radio

With ice on the roadways and temperatures not expected to get above freezing for the next couple of days, travel is still not advised.

Last night across Anderson County, no serious accidents were reported, and officials said that was due in part to people heeding their warnings to stay off the roads.

But some people may have no choice but to drive somewhere today. For those people, Clinton Police Rick Scarbrough had this piece of advice: “Drive with caution. Don’t get overconfident because just around the corner could be a solid sheet of ice. If you do have to be out, we understand, but try to avoid getting out if at all possible.” [Read more…]

Guest column: Analysis of traffic camera information

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By Dale Gedcke

The referenced documents were downloaded from the Oak Ridge City Council posting in advance of the (Feb. 24) work session. The numbers quoted below were calculated from the data supplied in the referenced report.

Accident Rates During 2013

Using the total crashes listed in the report, and the number of detected vehicles through the pertinent camera locations from both directions, the accident rates during 2013 were:

  • Oak Ridge Turnpike at Civic Center: 2.58 accidents per million vehicles
  • North Illinois Avenue at Robertsville Road: 0.90 accidents per million vehicles
  • Oak Ridge Turnpike at Lafayette Drive/New York Avenue: 1.8 accidents per million vehicles
  • Robertsville Road at Iroquois Avenue/Willow Brook School: 0.00 accidents per million vehicles
  • Total of all four locations: 1.68 accidents per million vehicles [Read more…]

Fairly quiet during last week’s snow, but 911 calls spike in Anderson County

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911 calls to the communications center at the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department increased significantly during last week’s snow.

The Sheriff’s Department said the communications center received 429 telephone calls from 7 p.m. Wednesday to 7 p.m. Friday, and 77 of those were 911 calls. That compares to 390 calls, with 51 of those on 911 lines, during the same time period a week earlier. [Read more…]

With holiday approaching, Anderson DA reminds residents not to drink and drive

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Dave Clark

Dave Clark

The Labor Day holiday is this weekend, and Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark is reminding people to not drive under the influence.

Citing statistics that indicate that nearly one out of every three traffic deaths in America occur in impaired-driving crashes, Clark in a press release said all of the county’s municipal police departments and Anderson County Sheriff’s Office are taking part in a high-visibility enforcement campaign aimed at reducing impaired driving fatalities and serious injury crashes. If you are driving under the influence, the minimum penalty in Tennessee includes 48 hours behind bars, a one-year suspension of your driver’s license and a $350 fine—plus the other severe financial consequences such as rising insurance rates, attorney fees and court costs, lost time at work, as well as potential job loss and the personal and professional embarrassment, Clark said. [Read more…]

Two injured in separate one-vehicle accidents on Highway 25W

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Information from WYSH Radio

Two people escaped serious injury in the past three days when their cars rolled during accidents on Highway 25W.

The first accident happened Saturday at around 12:45 p.m. on Clinch Avenue near the intersection with Carden Farm Road. The Clinton Police Department reported that 57-year-old Douglas Fairbanks had been headed north in a 2005 Audi when his car left the right side of the roadway, hit an embankment and a tree stump, and came to rest on its side. Fairbanks had to be extricated from the vehicle and was taken to Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge by ambulance. [Read more…]

TDOT to spend $1.2 million to make Highway 116 safer

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Tennessee Department of Transportation will spend more than $1.2 million to make safety improvements on Highway 116, also known as New River Highway, in Anderson County’s Briceville community.

After a string of accidents, including some fatalities, on the rural road, local officials began trying to find ways to prevent them in the future and those efforts paid off last August when a team of TDOT officials joined Anderson County commissioners Tim Isbel and Zach Bates, members of the Briceville Volunteer Fire Department, and deputies from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department on a tour of the 11-mile stretch of road from Frost Bottom to the Campbell County line.

[Read more…]