VACHERIE — Jan. 23, 2020 will mark the one-year anniversary of Toneka Walker’s tragic death. Walker, a teacher at West St. John High School, was driving to work with her 14-year-old daughter in the passenger seat when she turned on Highway 3127 and was struck on the driver’s side by a Caterpillar dump truck.

She sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead on scene, while her daughter sustained moderate injuries. Walker’s passing was one of many tragic stories that prompted a safety upgrade for the intersection of Highway 3127 and Highway 3213, a corridor that has been plagued by years of collisions and fatalities.

Walker’s daughter and several of her extended family members were present Wednesday afternoon as a new signalized traffic light was turned on for motorists traveling the road. Representatives from the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) and several elected officials from St. James and St. John the Baptist parishes celebrated the speedy completion of the safety project with a ribbon cutting.

The project cost $93,000, and expenses are being divided in four ways between the St. John and St. James Parish Councils and School Boards. DOTD absorbed the cost of the installation, but local parishes had to first step up to bring power to the area. Conversations started in March, and all four local entities agreed to split Entergy costs that amounted to approximately $53,000 in materials and $40,000 in labor to install more than 15 poles and an electrical service line.

Walker’s aunt, St. John Parish Judge Madeline Jasmine, recalled her niece made a statement before the accident that a traffic light was needed in that spot. Jasmine was grateful the family had been kept abreast of the progress leading up to the traffic signal installation.

“I know she’s watching down now, and I am so happy to say that this has happened,” Jasmine said. “We believe that this light will prevent many more fatalities.”

DOTD Secretary Shawn Wilson said there are a lot of considerations that go into placing a traffic signal. It’s a scientific and engineering decision, and DOTD can be sued for putting signals in places where they are not warranted by statistics.

“One of the hardest things I have to do as secretary is deal with safety, whether it is with our employees or citizens. It’s something that we really try to do our best with because one life lost is one too many,” Wilson said.

Traffic signals increase the frequency of rear-end collisions, so they must present a benefit that would outweigh the associated risks, according to DOTD.

“At the end of the day, we found that the numbers of movement that we had here and unfortunately the number of deaths and the injuries that have occurred at this footprint finally met the warrant to be able to justify having this signal,” Wilson said.

In April 2019, DOTD engineer Christopher Ewing said traffic counters installed from March 11-18 revealed more than 460 vehicles crossing 3127 at the intersection per hour. DOTD recorded six crashes, typically correctable by the installation of a traffic signal, over a previous 12-month stretch.

St. James Parish President Timmy Roussel said this was one of the fastest projects he’d seen completed in his 29 years in office, and the timeline outlined in Spring 2019 held true. Roussel recalled five fatalities and many more accidents that took place at the intersection.

One of the fatalities recorded by DOTD was 21-year-old Christopher Turner Jr. of Baton Rouge, who was struck and killed at the intersection in early 2019.

St. John Parish President Natalie Robottom said the St. John Parish Council will hold to its word in paying invoices for the project. She said the new traffic signal adds to recent safety improvements, which have also included implementation of the MAP roadside assistance program in the River Parishes.

While the intersection is in St. James, Sheriff Mike Tregre said it greatly impacts St. John.

“All of our officers use this intersection to protect St. John,” Tregre said. “It’s needed, it was done, and it was done very quickly. This was a front burner issue. The families applied the pressure, and results happened.”

Representative Ken Brass and Senator Ed Price were instrumental to the completion of the project.

Brass thanked the community for being steadfast in voicing the importance of the traffic signal.

“This is only the first step,” Brass said. “We’re definitely fighting to improve safety along this corridor.”

Improved lighting along the highway will be another area of focus, according to Brass.

 

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