The Heatherwood neighborhood promises to be safer for walkers, joggers, and pedestrians in general, following a recent vote by the Jackson City Council.
Recently, the council approved the Heatherwood Area Homeowners’ Association’s application to install a public access gate along Briarfield Road.
The measure was approved on a 5-0 vote. Ward Seven Councilwoman Virgi Lindsay was absent and Ward Three Councilman Kenneth Stokes had stepped out of the meeting.
“We were very pleased they voted for our gate,” said association president Ann Fry. “We’re very appreciative.”
The gate will be located at the neighborhood’s main entrance, just north of River Thames Road.
The device is needed to prevent Briarfield from being used as a cut-through between Ridgewood Road and Old Canton Road.
Fry said the gate will also calm traffic and possibly prevent future tragedies there.
In 2010, a Madison-Ridgeland Academy teacher was killed on River Thames when a pickup collided with her vehicle. The woman was on her way home to take her father to his birthday party.
“He almost hit a jogger during the same incident. Another driver hit the brick structure at the entrance. I had a drunk driver drive into my home in October,” Fry said. “The gate would have at least slowed him down.”
The association was obtaining estimates for the gate last week. “As soon as we get those in and choose a contractor, it will go in right away,” Fry said. “We have the money set aside for it.”
The gate will be located just north of River Thames, meaning there will be plenty of room for vehicles who accidentally turn on Briarfield to turn around. Signs will also be posted nearby to alert drivers that a public access gate is in place.
“If people don’t want to go through it, they won’t have to,” she said.
Unlike private gates, which are designed to keep people out, public access gates are designed to slow traffic. Public gates require a key or code to open, while public gates open simply by pulling up and waiting.
Additionally, with public access gates, streets with the devices remain open to the public, meaning the city can continue to maintain the streets with public funds.
Under state statute, streets protected by a private gate are considered private and must be maintained with private dollars.
