TIFTON — County commissioners have begun taking steps to construct a 4-way stop at the intersection of Ferry Lake Road and New River Church Road.

Concerned about the high traffic and risk of accidents at the intersection, the county board of commissioners moved unanimously to improve the area with the implementation of a four-way stop at their Dec. 11 meeting.

This plan will see four 36-inch stop signs, equipped with flashing lights, be installed along with four advanced warning signs, stop bars, and thermoplastic lighting along each side of both roads.

At the board’s previous meeting, county manager Jim Carter explained that New River Church Road was a primary travel artery for Tift County High School. As a result, the intersection of New River Church and Ferry Lake Road received a tremendous amount of traffic, as well as some of the most inexperienced drivers in the county. The suggested improvements would go toward making the intersection much safer for all of the county’s drivers.

District 4 commissioner Stan Stalnaker felt the stop signs would not be enough to curb the dangers of the intersection, believing that remodeling the roads to accommodate turn lanes and a stoplight would be a better solution.

Carter recounted that the county had looked into signalizing the intersection previously, but doing so would not only require the relocation of underground utilities, but also be much more expensive, clocking in at around $2,461,926. In contrast, adding the stop signs, warning signs, stop bars, and lighting would only cost the county around $50,000, without accommodating for engineering costs.

County staff also assured the commissioners that the stop signs could easily be repurposed if they decided to change gears for the intersection down the line.