Improvements to a local intersection will soon begin, which will hopefully lessen the potential for automobile accidents.

The intersection of Sandy Plains Road, Landrum Road, and Highway 9 has had 34 accidents in the last five years, but the N.C. Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has plans to make this intersection safer.

Steve Williams, Division Engineer with NCDOT, recently led a discussion with the Polk County Board of Commissioners about the intersection.

In the coming weeks, NCDOT plans to add rumble strips, replace the current yellow caution lights with flashing red lights, add “stop ahead” signs on the roads, and make the intersection a four-way stop.