Smyrna Hazardous Intersection: Cooper Lake Road and East-West Connector

SMYRNA, Georgia. – From small cars to large SUVs and 18-wheelers, the intersection of Cooper Lake Road and the East-West Connector in Smyrna sees it all. If you ask Emily Michael, it’s a downright dangerous place.

“A lot of people have traveled it very fast, and if it’s not the speed, you run the red light, and if you don’t run the red light, there’s poor visibility when turning left,” he said. “It’s just a perfect storm of things that can go wrong at an intersection.”

Michael says things go wrong all the time. He lives just a few minutes away and passes the intersection dozens of times a week.

“I feel like I’ve been close in every direction, where you just let out a squeal, grab the steering wheel and hope you’re on time because someone is racing trying to beat you to the light of a rush somewhere,” he said.

According to figures from the Smyrna Police Department, accidents at intersections are constant and increasing.

In 2021, officers responded to 43 accidents. Last year, that number jumped to 55 on average. This means at least one accident per week. So far this year, there have been 35.

“My biggest concern is that as I drive past here at 7:00 in the morning with my daughter, someone will run a red light and hit us on the way to school,” Michael said.

The city of Smyrna says it is working with Cobb County to improve safety along the East-West Connector. After a traffic study, the city says the Cooper Lake Road intersection was identified as a high priority for repairs.

“I really hope they do something soon so we can save other people from being in danger and make us all feel safer when driving in and out of our neighborhood,” Michael said.

A Smyrna spokeswoman says the county and city are finalizing the design of the repairs and hope to begin preliminary engineering by the end of the year.