CUMMING, Ga. — A 16-year-old who was nearly killed at a dangerous intersection took a stand against the Georgia Department of Transportation Wednesday evening.
Zoe Ordway has one main message: put a traffic light up at Post Road and Bentley Road in Cumming - before someone dies.
She talked directly to the agency at a town hall meeting, passionately speaking about the crash this past August that left her seriously injured.
"I suffered major injuries, including a broken femur, five fractures in my pelvis and a fractured sternum," she explained. "After my car stopped, I was sitting watching cars drive by and I was really scared that no one was going to stop and help me."
Zoe nearly died after being T-boned at that same intersection. She also said, she's not the only one.
Police tell 11Alive there’s an accident at that intersection almost every month.
GDOT agrees - they need to do something. But after doing studies, the intersection doesn’t qualify for a traffic light. Instead, they propose placing a concrete median at the intersection, which would eliminate a left turn from Bentely onto Post Road.
Brandon Kirby, GDOT's district engineer for Northeast Georgia, said they want to try to eliminate angle crashes, which are the more severe type crashes.
But Zoe's father, Scott Ordway, said that only creates more problems.
“When you take the left turn capability away, where do you go?" he asked. "The way to get to the high school is to wind your way around to a four-lane, divided highway that has more traffic. That is an uncontrolled intersection, and it’s going to be more dangerous than where we’re at.”
Some asked GDOT to consider other options, but GDOT officials said that would cost more money and time.
"We were looking for an immediate solution that address immediate concerns until the project comes along, and then we can work towards permanent solutions," Kirby said.
However, Scott Ordway wants them to see that that lives are at stake.
"What’s my daughter’s life worth?" he said.
GDOT hopes to widen Post Road to four lanes, but that project wouldn’t start until 2028. They say right now, eliminating the left turn is the safest and quickest option.
But Zoe, her parents and close to 75 other people at the meeting said that solution is just a band-aid.
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