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Guyton gets a green light for its red light
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Guyton’s long-awaited traffic light may be reality soon.

State Rep. Jon Burns (R-Newington) and state Sen. Jack Hill (R-Reidsville) announced the state Department of Transportation has agreed to install a traffic signal at the intersection of Highways 17 and 119 in Guyton.

“I am pleased that the intersection will become safer for local citizens and travelers alike,” Burns said. “I appreciate the response from the Georgia DOT.”

Said Hill: “The Guyton intersection is constantly busy and with the heavy truck traffic, there is no doubt a safer intersection will be the result.”

A light at the intersection has been a longstanding goal of the Guyton City Council.

In a letter dated Feb. 28, DOT district engineer Glenn Durrence said the district office in Jesup would be submitting a recommendation to the main office in Atlanta for approval. The intersection is a four-way stop and heavily congested. With the addition of another business at the intersection, the need prompted legislators to request a study to determine if a traffic signal would be safer.

“I stood on the corner and ran out of fingers and toes to count the number of near misses,” Mayor Michael Garvin said in December of a brief period he spent observing the intersection recently. “It’s just a time bomb waiting for the big one (accident) to happen again.”