By MELISSA PEACOCK

GARYVILLE – The red lights of an emergency vehicle are flashing. The yellow lights of a tow truck pulling smashed vehicles away from one dangerous parish intersection urge drivers to use caution.

“Vehicle in the canal, subject bleeding,” one accident report stated. “Accident with injuries, laceration to face,” stated another.

Injuries and fatalities are not just a part of the history of the U.S. Highway 61/Louisiana Highway 54 intersection in Garyville. They are the history, officials said.

According to parish accident reports, there were 63 accidents near the intersection in a period of about seven years. One of the most recent accidents left a Mt. Airy man dead.

At a recent St. John the Baptist Parish Council meeting, council members demanded something be done to curb the growing number of injuries and deaths at the intersection.

“We had two fatalities in 13 days over the holidays,” Councilman Allen St. Pierre said. “That makes it even more critical that we get a traffic signal there.”

That urgency prompted the council to approve a resolution requesting the state Department of Transportation and Development to put some safety measures in place at the intersection. St. Pierre said the DOTD has been contacted twice about the intersection. The Parish Council requested a caution light, a traffic light and “proper turn lanes” for the intersection and so far, all the requests were denied.

“They (DOTD officials) said because we did not have enough traffic there, it just did not warrant it,” St. Pierre said. “It did not fit their criteria. I guess they have got policies to go by – but it gets more critical when you have a number of injuries and fatalities.”

So far, 28 injuries have resulted from accidents at the intersection. Three fatalities were also reported.

The council’s newest resolution asks the DOTD to install a traffic signal with turn lanes at the intersection. If the action fails, council members said, parish officials may have to take action on their own.

Preliminary estimates for precautionary measures were recently released. According to the estimates, adding traffic lights with a turn arrow would cost about $117,000. Highway lights and signs would cost an additional $96,000.

St. Pierre said he has already requested six additional lights at the intersection. He has also contacted the DOTD office in Hammond to request a larger stop sign and white lines in front of the intersection.

Councilman Ranney Wilson said that a reduced speed limit and additional signs at the intersection could potentially help reduce the number of serious accidents.