The Deadly, Scenic State Route 62
By Rebecca Carroll
©2011
Tennessee State Route 62 is a snaking stretch of 2-lane highway that meanders mostly west to east from Monterey at the edge of the Cumberland Plateau and disappears in downtown Knoxville. If you live in southern Scott County, Sunbright, Wartburg, Joyner, Petros, Coalfield, or in any of the other surrounding communities, you have to travel it to get to Oak Ridge and/or Knoxville.
It can be scenic with its mountain views, curves, and straight stretches that tempt the faster cars to get around those enjoying the scenery. However, for many, it is literally a graveyard, a last stop on this earth in twisted metal and the white residue of the deflated air bags.
I have no statistics, just my memories of all those whose lives ended or families who were tragically affected by near misses on the stretch that goes through Coalfield. I was reminded of this fatal stretch of highway just today as I drove my grandchildren home. Near the Presbyterian church is a small memorial to a 6-year old child who died last week after the car she was riding in was hit head on by a dump truck. A wreath and some other flowers, while appropriate, are an almost pitiful reminder of a life so hideously and wrongfully stolen from this girl. There will be no first grade, no prom, no makeup, no growing up for this little girl. Those sweet events of life were stolen by that road that is outrageously out of date with its 2 lanes, curves, and narrow shoulders.
There are other accidents that have left imprints on my mind. I certainly do not pretend to recount them all—there are too many for that. My own son, when he was just learning to drive, hit–or was hit–by a truck at Coalfield’s most infamous intersection: the Snack ‘n Pack. Thankfully, he wasn’t hurt. My nephew wasn’t so lucky; he was hit there and had a serious head injury but recovered. I remember my husband’s employee as he came to the house to tell me of the wreck. His face was white. “It’s bad,” he says. I can’t forget my sister (his mother) and me standing, shaking, on the side of the road as they pulled him out of the car. I can’t even begin to imagine her feelings as she watched.
In the early 1960’s, there was a wreck near Middle Creek Baptist Church where 2 high school girls were killed. The accident was much talked about. They were beautiful girls whose lives were gone in an instant. In that same time period, another woman was killed closer to Middle Creek, and a child died in separate accidents. A man walking was also killed near the church.
There’s more . . . .
My family lived on the highway in the 1950’s. Our paper boy was hit by a car (only a broken leg); Dad’s car was hit turning into our driveway one evening; and a coal truck loaded with coal wrecked into our yard once to avoid hitting the school bus that had stopped for my sisters. https://sunnybrooktales.wordpress.com/2009/05/05/coal-truck-wreck-on-the-mountain/. No one was hurt in that accident, but it was perhaps the last straw for my dad. He moved the family to the more rural Back Valley Road.
There’s more. . . .
Who could forget the high school girl who was stopped to make a left-hand turn into Walls Hollow? The turn-off sits just over a slight rise. She was hit in the back with such a force, she did not survive. Her mother launched a campaign to install a turn lane, and the state came through this time.
There’s more . . . .
My former sister-in-law and her companion both perished farther toward Stephens. I seem to remember someone’s mother gone after another wreck near Snack ‘n Pack. And my husband and I were involved in a 3-car accident once near Big Mountain Church. There were no serious injuries, but it taught me the importance of seat belts. We had only lap belts at the time, which allowed my knees to crash into the dashboard.
There’s more . . . .
Near the auction, 2 men lost their lives one night trying to pull out onto that tricky stretch with limited sight and crowded cars parked at the auction. A classmate of my daughter’s and his friend wrecked there one night, severely injuring them both. Incredibly, my kids and I once watch Lifestar land on the stretch of highway between Middle Creek Church and the top of Big Mountain hill to pick up a victim. A woman’s car was down in a ravine. She did not survive.
There’s more . . . .
There are speed limits, flashing lights, people who drive cautiously through certain areas, but nothing, NOTHING (I am shouting) will help until the State of Tennessee decides to build the mythical, far-into-the-future, modern highway east to west through Morgan County. Morgan County needs a four-lane, divided highway with wide shoulders and turn lanes so that our loved ones can make it to their jobs safely and back home again, so that little children are not crumpled in head-on collisions, so that you don’t have to get that terrible, dreaded phone call. The same could be said for Highway 27. Yes, we are thankful for the stretch that is almost finished from Petit Lane to Wartburg, but it is not enough. We have been traveling on the same highway for 50+ years with very little improvement. Wake up State of Tennessee!
There will be more . . . .
Sunnybrooktales 