Deadly Combo: Narrow Roads, No Shoulders, Steep Dropoffs, Deep Ditches

by Woody Jenkins

CENTRAL — The people of Central have been saddened by the death in the past few days of two beautiful young people who had their entire lives ahead of them.  The senseless loss of Tyler Kyzar on Denham Road and Emily Simmers on Wax Road leave us grieving with their families and loved ones.

Just as these tragedies were unfolding came the news that a 31-year-old Denham Springs man was arrested in connection with the death of Phillip Abington on Greenwell Springs Road in September.  The police investigation indicated that the man arrested was going over 90 mph and by the time of impact was still at 77 mph.  His blood alcohol level was reportedly at .09.

Unreported was the near death of Tori Mayo last Tuesday.  She was traveling too fast on Greenwell Springs Road, began to hydroplane, left car the road, and flipped over, landing upside down.  Praise be to God, she walked away from the crash with only one injury — a cut on the palm of her hand in the form of a cross.

All of these accidents have one thing in common — driver error and our unforgiving roads that provide no room for error.

Rather than wasting our money studying the Loop, we should be spending money to install drainage pipes where we have open ditches, and building shoulders over them.  If we do this on Denham, Wax, and Greenwell Springs roads, we will save many lives — maybe yours or mine.  Meanwhile, we must widen Hooper and Sullivan and build that new Hooper Road bridge to get some of this traffic off our overloaded, antiquated roads.

Joseph Kyzar, father of Tyler Kyzar, one of the youths who was killed, said, “It’s impossible to know what caused my son’s death. It was a one-car crash on Denham Road, and there were no witnesses, but I know this: The roads in Central were built for another time. They are narrow, dangerous country roads, and this is supposed to be a city. It’s amazing to me what is going on here. Some people are all for lots of growth. For them, it’s all about money. We bring in developers to build new subdivisions, and they are required to build adequate streets, curbs, and drainage.  Yet, those subdivisions empty onto roads which have not been changed or improved at all to carry the greater traffic. Unless we provide simple safety measures such as adequate shoulders, we’re going to have more and more tragedies, such as the one my family has experienced.”