Three months after an Opp couple was killed in a wreck at the intersection of Hwy. 84 and Horn Hill Road, ALDOT has begun working on modifications to the median.

“ALDOT will install plastic curbing to channelize turns from U.S. Highway 84 onto Horn Hill Road in order to improve efficiency and reduce the potential for crashes,” said ALDOT spokesperson Brantley Kirk. “Travelers on Horn Hill Road who wish to turn left onto U.S. Highway 84 will instead make a right turn onto U.S. Highway 84 and make a U-turn at the first available crossover.”

Kirk said that this indirect left procedure will prevent cars from clustering in the median and will result in improved safety.

“Travelers will experience a little extra driving to use the indirect left approach, but the gains in safety are well worth it,” said ALDOT district administrator Brent Maddox. “ALDOT’s mission is to provide a safe, efficient, environmentally sound transportation network across Alabama.”

The intersection became a hot topic at the end of October when Irving Ladon Bullard, 82, and Mary Ellen Bullard, 77, were killed in the accident.

In November, the Star-News interviewed the Bullards’ granddaughter Miranda Oleniczak, who said her plan was to get ALDOT to place a caution light or red light at the intersection.

She launched an online petition, which garnered more than 700 signatures.

“My hope is to help protect the people who come and go there every day,” Oleniczak said. “Since the Hwy. 84 bypass in Opp opened in 2006, there has been over 40 car accidents with many of these accidents resulting in fatalities because of the inability to see oncoming traffic going westbound.”