One motorcyclist saw something that was unsafe on an Alabama highway and took his complaint and solution all the way to the governor’s office.
Last week, the Alabama Department of Transportation began work to rectify the problem.
The problem that Joey Rucker saw was on a small stretch of U.S. 80 in Phenix City, right after it merges off U.S. 280.
The area is a death trap for motorcyclists.
Two years ago, Rucker and his advocacy group – American Bikers Active Toward Education – began to push for fencing along the bridge. That fencing began to go up last week and should be in place before the height of riding season this spring.
“Trying to get something passed you got to make it so they are convinced it is worthy to do,” Rucker said. “And we did that. We got 1,400 signatures. Letters written to AL DOT. Letters were written to Gov. Kay Ivey.
In October 2015, Eugene Striblin Jr. of Columbus was killed in an accident on this stretch of Phenix City Highway. Almost two years later, Richard Lee of Dothan met the same fate in the same place.
Rucker knew that the proper fencing on the bridge was have kept each of the men from plunging 50 feet to their deaths. And he knew it was going to happen again.
“It’s not a matter of if it’s going to take a life, but when,” he said.
At first, Alabama DOT officials told Rucker that there was not an issue. Rucker – and the nearly 1,400 people who signed a petition – knew better. And so do the thousands of bikers who regularly use the road as part of their route from Atlanta to the beach.
Rucker took a deliberate path to fix the problem.
“Direct, determined and diplomatic are three words that I came up with,” he said. “And that’s exactly what you have to be.”
The solution was approved in August, but it took six more months to work through the railroad red tape because it crossed a Norfolk-Southern rail line.
Rucker knows this will save lives.
“Prior to this, it would rank in the top 5 most dangerous roads in Alabama and in the Southeast,” he said. “In another month, it won’t rank at all – which is wonderful.”