SPRINGFIELD, Ga. () — After several people were killed at a busy intersection in Effingham County, county commissioners voted to put in a new traffic light in hopes of preventing another tragedy.

Laura Devisscher was killed in a crash last June at the intersection of Highway 21 and McCall Road in Springfield, but she isn’t the first victim.

The Effingham County Sheriff’s Office said that while they don’t have an exact number, there have been a number of crashes and several deaths at the intersection.

“The accident happened more than one time,” an Effingham County resident who lives near the intersection, said. “It just had for one person to get killed, two people, whatever the case was. It’s just bad, and they need to do something about it. If they do that, if they put a light up here, that’ll kill a lot of accidents.”

A little over a week ago, the Effingham County Commission voted to approve a contract award to an electric company that will put up a light at McCall and 21.

“You have traffic from this corner, you’ve got traffic all the way down to Courthouse Road, I’m talking about way around,” the resident said. “They just need to do a little better for Effingham.”

Some locals said a light won’t necessarily solve everything.
“I don’t think it’ll be helpful until they find another avenue to alleviate some of the traffic on 21 and maybe deter some of these trucks from here, it may less some, but not enough that it’s going to completely stop the accidents from happening,” Angela Holloway, who works nearby, said.

Effingham County Manager Timothy Callahan said in a statement, “Ensuring public safety is our top priority.” He added that the county plans to install left turn lanes in the future.

The Georgia Department of Transportation will be involved as well. They said the GDOT will supply the signal components for the intersection improvements while Effingham County will oversee construction.

According to the contract for construction of the new traffic light, it will be up within 90 days of the contractor’s receipt of notice to proceed.