Another 3050 East accident, Washington’s broken intersection

A two-vehicle accident occurred on 3050 East be Petco Friday afternoon, no injuries were reported, Washington, Utah, March 22, 2013 | Photo by Scott Young, St. George News

WASHINGTON CITY – A two-vehicle accident occurred on 3050 East in Washington on Friday, adding to the number of accidents in an area close to what has been described as a “broken intersection.”

The Telegraph Road-Green Spring Drive-3050 East intersection in Washington has seen its fair share of accidents. Some of the more serious ones get picked up by the media, while many others are fortunately minor by comparison, resulting in minor injuries or none at all.

The accident on Friday occurred around 3:15 p.m. when a passenger car was exiting the Petco parking lot onto 3050 East and apparently impacted the front passenger-side of a pickup travelling toward the intersection.

Police responded to the scene soon after and dealt with traffic while the incident was investigated and eventually cleared. No injuries were reported in connection with the crash.

During the 2013 Dixie Transportation Expo, Michael Shaw, public works director for Washington, described the intersection and the area around it as heavily congested and accident prone, especially during peak hours of traffic.

“A good example is Black Friday,” he said. “We had 20 cars backed up onto the interstate trying to get off. This intersection is broken.”

The city is working on finding ways to improve the intersection for all concerned. However, those improvements may run around $6 million, Shaw said.

He also indicated that part of the problem involving the intersection were the many “feeders” from various business parking lots that added to the congestion and occasional accident.

When the improvement project is finally given the green light, issues of right-of-way may also become an issue as the city strives to fix the intersection.

Until then, drivers passing through the area are encouraged to drive safely and not give into distracted or impaired driving.

Previous accidents in the area

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11 Comments

  • Big Don March 22, 2013 at 6:09 pm

    Another example of “Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.” Too bad that traffic engineers and city planners in Dixie can’t seem to look beyond next year, when it comes to traffic planning. . .

  • steven March 22, 2013 at 7:04 pm

    With Washington City’s growth (the fields) another access to that area is the only way that traffic will ever be reasonably slowed down at that particular intersection. City planning…….isn’t it great!!

  • Marty Wheelwright March 22, 2013 at 7:41 pm

    Unfortunately, this accident site IS NOT an intersection. This is a entrance/exit from the Home Depot Petco IHOP parking lots. Yes, the intersection of 3050 and Telegraph causes the build up of traffic BUT, people trying to turn left out of that parking lot are the ones that have caused the accidents. They are trying to make it across two lanes of traffic in an obstructed view area (due to build up of traffic in the left turning lane). Make it a no left turn exit and then park a cop there to enforce it. Ironically, there are four different entrances and exits into the same parking lot.

    • Big Don March 23, 2013 at 8:56 am

      A better solution, one that would not require constant monitoring by cops, would be to place an uncrossable median down 3050 East, so that left turns cannot be made there. And this includes the truck access behind the building. Let them use the traffic signal on Telegraph at the WalMart entrance.

  • Troll March 22, 2013 at 8:31 pm

    I don’t think “Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.” is the problem with traffic there, I think its the drivers that drives there are the problem, they don’t know how to be patient, or they don’t look around their surroundings when crossing through that area. I lived here in Utah for overall 8 years, I have driven in Salt Lake City, Murray, Sandy, West Jordan, Taylorsville, Lehi, American Fork, Orem, Provo, Spanish Fork, Cedar City, Hurricane and now here in Saint George and Washinton city, mostly during rush hours, I see either impatient drivers, or plain idiot drivers…. I have driven in vegas and Los Angeles during rush hours, Never once I seen impatient or idiot drivers on those cities…

    • sweet jude March 23, 2013 at 12:52 am

      Very true, I couldn’t agree more. The ppl in this town are lost in space. No one seems to have a clue about what’s happening around them. The new york taxicab drivers are fast too, but at least they can prevent an accident from happening.

  • Big Don March 23, 2013 at 8:58 am

    When you constantly have a cell phone glued to your ear, or when you are illegally texting, it is very hard to concentrate on driving. Or anything else for that matter.

    • Troll March 23, 2013 at 12:02 pm

      Funny you say that, sometimes I wonder myself if I’m the only one here in Saint George and Washington city that banned himself from using cellphones while driving. Plus, I drive a standard transmission truck, so often, my hands are tied to the steering wheel and the shifter, almost no chances of holding something with one hand since both hands are needed. I think in an average, I think I seen about 4 – 7 motorist driving with a phone and hand glued to their ear every month.

      • Ron March 23, 2013 at 4:02 pm

        Only 4 to 7, Troll. You must not be looking hard.

        • Ollie March 24, 2013 at 6:12 pm

          Yea, he’s not looking very hard. I see anywhere between 50 and 275 every month. At least.

  • Tom March 24, 2013 at 11:24 am

    Simple solution: Ban all left turns into and out of shopping centers at 3050 and Telegraph, except at traffic lights. Another problem that the City of St. George needs to address before someone gets killed, is the jay-walking in front of the Zion Outlets. Yesterday, I saw an idiot couple with three children under the age of ten, waiting for a break in traffic so they could run across the street, through very heavy traffic, instead of walking down to the traffic signal and cross walk.

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