A misaligned intersection has a Kinston physician worried about possible unsafe road conditions in his neighborhood.

Motorists on Greenbriar Road are forced to make a jog when they cross Perry Park Drive if they continue to stay on Greenbriar. The south side of Greenbriar is offset from the north side by about 7 feet.

“The problem we have with this intersection is with people speeding down the hill and that the people driving on Perry Park Drive do not stop, or if they do stop, it is not at the appropriately marked line on the pavement,” Dr. Samuel J. Gilmore said in a letter to the city. “Unless these rules are obeyed, it does become a very hazardous corner.”

Gilmore wants the city to install a traffic light or a four-way stop sign. He is the second resident to register a complaint about the street, although it is one of many such unaligned intersections in the city.

In 2002, Dr. Robert Curtis sent a letter to the city. “I have witnessed many accidents and near accidents at this intersection,” he wrote. “There is a large number of children visiting the Fairfield Recreation Center on a daily basis almost year round. Since the City Council decided to abandon the use of gates to control traffic, a stop light has been installed on Vernon Avenue and a new grocery store has opened traffic has increased tremendously and in fact has gotten out of hand.

“Greenbriar Road is not lined up, that is, it is offset approximately 6 or 7 feet as it crosses Perry Park Drive … I honestly feel that the City could be liable should, heaven forbid, a child or an elderly pedestrian would be killed,” he concluded.

The bottom line, Councilman Joe Tyson said, is that since the intersection does not meet the standard for a four-way stop sign, could the city be liable if an accident were to occur after the installation?

“It could be challenged,” said Street Superintendent Brian Lucas. “We really wouldn’t have a good argument.”

Lucas wants to meet with residents, explain the options and see if everyone can agree on a solution.

Lucas met last month with Gilmore to talk about the problem. Lucas agrees that the intersection has “sight problems.” Lucas said the city has installed wide lines – stop bars -- across Greenbriar to signal motorists to stop before entering the intersection. The city also has trimmed shrubs that might block a driver’s view.

In fact, Gilmore noted that the city had cut back his shrubs and said he would prune a camellia bush even more “even though it is now in full bloom … (and) It has taken me twenty years to grow this specimen to its present state.”

“The problem is that people stop at the stop sign instead of at the stop bars,” Lucas said. “When they stop at the stop sign, they have to enter the intersection.”

The city investigated the intersection in 2002 following Curtis’ letter. A 72-hour traffic survey counted 859 vehicles on Perry Park Drive, or an average of 12 per hour. Greenbriar Road had 562 vehicles in 180 hours, or three per hour.

The Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices calls for multi-way stop signs if the traffic at an intersection is about equal; if the intersection has had five or more reportable accidents within 12 months, and the vehicles at the intersection total at least 500 in eight hours. (A reportable accident is one in which more than $500 worth of damage occurs.) Only two reportable accidents at the Greenbriar Road-Perry Park Drive intersection were logged from January 1998 to December 2002.

“This seemed to be a good option at first,” Lucas said. “But if you look at the traffic requirements, a four-way stop is not warranted.”

The second option would be realigning the street, a choice Lucas says would cost about $45,000 and could open the door to realigning all offset intersections in the city.

The report issued in 2002 said the best approach to realignment would be “the southern portion of Greenbriar Road approximately 75 feet south of the intersection. Realignment of this portion … would require shifting the street to the east approximately 12 feet.” The city’s right-of-way is only 10 feet, insufficient for reinstalling the sidewalk, curb and gutter and asphalt.

At least one resident already has complained about this method. Public Services Director Scott Stevens said a Greenbriar Road man has objected to losing some of his yard in order to realign the street.