In an effort to reduce potential crashes a new traffic light has now been activated on Highway 370 at 66th Street
Sarpy County Sheriff's Captain Chris Culler tells 6 News it’s a very heavily traveled roadway. “As the traffic increases on that roadway some frustrations also increase and so we do get some drivers that exceed the speed limit and they don't follow the traffic laws as they should,” he said. “We do see an increase in accidents.”
The posted speed limit along the highway is 55 miles per hour. Culler said as the county grows, the potential danger increases.
“When 370 was first put in as a State Highway, we didn't have all the intersections we have or at least we didn't have all the industry that is currently at those intersections,” he tells 6 News. “We've got a lot of apartments and residential homes at that intersection and a lot of people visiting people at those apartments,” Culler said.
MacKenna Brown drives the intersection daily. “I’ve seen other people with close calls,” she tells 6 News. Prior to the traffic lights the stop signs on 66th Street left drivers to fend for themselves to safely enter the state highway.
“Traffic lights were absolutely necessary there to increase the safety of all the drivers on 370,” Captain Culler says.
Brown says it’s a change for the better. “I like the new lights because in the mornings it’s really hard to turn left onto 370 so I can go to school at Bellevue University,” she said. “So the lights will make it a lot easier for that.”