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Oconee residents press commissioners for stop signs, expedited roundabout after fatal crash on Cullum Ferry Road
Summary
Two residents urged Oconee County commissioners to add stop signs and speed up construction of a roundabout at the Cullum (Cullin) Ferry Road–Assondale intersection after recent crashes, and requested a traffic study and a memorial designation for the site.
Jeff Morgan and his wife, Jenny Morgan, urged the Oconee County Board of Commissioners on July 8 to add two stop signs at the intersection of Cullum Ferry Road and Assondale and to expedite a planned roundabout after a fatal crash earlier this year.
Jeff Morgan, who identified himself as a Cullum Ferry resident, said the June 24 crash at about 4:24 a.m. involved his neighbor and left the neighbor’s car destroyed and the occupant hospitalized. “We need to have the 4 way stop there. I know the rotary is in the plan…We need to have the 4 way stop there,” Morgan said. He asked the board to “expedite the roundabout.”
Jenny Morgan, who described herself as the victim’s neighbor and the mother of the person killed earlier on that same road, said she has seen some improvements from county crews but said they are not sufficient. She asked commissioners to commission a traffic study of the road segment and to consider lowering the speed limit to 45 mph on Cullum Ferry Road, and she requested the roundabout or road segment be named “William E. Morgan Memorial Highway” or “William E. Morgan Memorial Roundabout.”
Why it matters: residents said the intersection is on a stretch where drivers accelerate and collisions are more likely than at nearby intersections. Speakers told the board they have seen property damage, two recent injuries, and continuing safety risks. Morgan said standard crash statistics undercount the problem because nearby intersections have heavier but slower traffic that masks risks on Cullum Ferry.
County staff and commissioners did not take immediate action from the public-comment podium; residents asked specifically for short-term traffic calming (stop signs) while the longer-term roundabout is completed and for a formal traffic study of the segment. Jenny Morgan noted existing communications with county staff about interim safety measures and expressed appreciation for some improvements already made.
The speakers’ requests included both near-term measures (two additional stop signs to create a four-way stop) and longer-range actions (expediting construction of a roundabout and lowering the posted speed). The board did not announce a decision at the meeting; staff follow-up and any formal traffic-calming request or ordinance change would require later action or staff direction.
