Service road safety revisited

Former Ruston Police Chief Randal Hermes reached his tipping point in the summer of 2003 after he stood at the gravesides of two young local men, one 16, and the other 21, killed less than a month apart in alcoholrelated traffic crashes.

“We were having a lot of alcohol- related fatalities,” said Hermes. “We zeroed in on the (south I-20) service road because that’s where it was all happening or coming from there.”

Authorities say a combination of issues — some of which are out of police or government’s control — make the approximately 1-mile stretch between the Tarbutton Road overpass and the Cooktown Road overpass appear to be some of the deadliest roadway in Ruston, especially when pedestrians are involved.

But 10-year crash records from Louisiana’s Department of Transportation and Development for that section dispute that, showing no fatalities and only 14 injury crashes, two of which involved pedestrians, from 2014 to 2023.

Even so, the south service road is still considered a trouble spot because the three pedestrian fatalities that have occurred there — 2002, 2005, and 2024 — followed the same set of circumstances.

Incidents

Each, including the most recent on Oct. 19, have involved alcohol, drunk-driving, underage drinking or driving, speed, patrons leaving a popular nearby bar, nighttime, or some mixture of those.

On Jan. 26, 2002, Kristen McKeller, 18, of Bossier City died when she was hit by an on-coming pickup truck that police say was driven by 23-year-old Roger Luffey, of Ruston. The next day, Luffey committed suicide.

The accident occurred about 2 a.m. that Saturday. At the time the service road was two-way.

McKellar and her roommate, who was injured, were walking to their car when they stepped into the eastbound lane and were struck by an oncoming sports utility vehicle. McKellar died in a Ruston hospital at 7:55 a.m. Saturday.

Her friends said they wanted to petition authorities to lower the 55- mph speed limit along the frontage road.

Police began to suspect Luffey after they discovered his damaged vehicle the next day while answering the suicide call.

Both victims and Luffey had been at The Revelry bar.

On Nov. 29, 2005, Jason Waltman, 25, of Ruston, was reportedly walking home from the bar when he was struck and killed near Temple Baptist Church. At first, the driver didn’t think he’d hit anything, but at the urging of his girlfriend he turned his vehicle around and spotted Waltman on the side of the road, police said.

For almost 20 years, the service road was free of pedestrian deaths. Until Oct. 19. That’s when Abby Sterling, of Shreveport, hit and killed 21-year-old Jackson Mitcham, of Sterlington.

Mitcham and a friend were reportedly standing in the middle of the road.

Both the victims and driver were believed to have been coming from The Revelry, not far from where the accident happened, Ruston Police Deputy Chief Henry Wood said.

Sterling was initially charged with two counts of first-degree negligent injury. With Mitcham’s death, at least one of the charges is expected to be increased, police said.

Officers found the victims lying on the north shoulder of the road. Sterling, whose blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit for intoxication in Louisiana, reportedly told authorities she didn’t have enough stopping distance when she topped a hill and saw the men.

Sterling is also underage. Twenty-one is the legal alcohol consumption age in Louisiana.

Causes

While authorities say personal responsibility may be the biggest single factor in the service- road dilemma, there are also other considerations: jurisdictions, the 55-mph speed limit, the hilly nature of the roadway, lack of sidewalks and poor lighting.

The bar and its parking lot are inside the city of Grambling, while the road is in the city of Ruston and thus, under the Ruston Police Department’s patrol jurisdiction.

But the service road is a state road; that means the DOTD sets the speed limit. Concerns have also been voiced about lack of lighting, plus a hill driver’s visibility almost immediately after turning out of the bar parking lot.

A co-owner of The Revelry was contacted for input not only about the possible solutions to those issues, but also how the bar tries to stop underage drinkers, but he did not return a phone call.

“We as law enforcement have a responsibility to try to do something, as well as the owner, as well as some personal responsibility,” Ruston Police Chief Steve Rogers said.

At the time of the 2002 fatality, the service road was two-way, and Ruston’s city limits stopped about half a mile from Cooktown Road.

Solutions Hermes, Rogers’ predecessor, remembers concerts at The Rev — the local name for the bar — when vehicles were parked on both sides of the road.

“It was bad. I’m like, ‘We’re fixing to have a tragedy,’” he said.

He convinced the state to put up no-parking signs, which are still there.

“We started hooking everybody to keep them from parking on the road,” Hermes said.

RPD also started pushing the use of designated drivers and set up checkpoints at both ends of the service road. Officers rewarded designated drivers with gift certificates and other prizes donated by local merchants.

The plan worked. “The kids thought we were everywhere. But we had not thought of going anywhere but on that service road. Those DWI checkpoints sent a big message,” Hermes said.

But they’re labor intense, and Rogers said he has only enough officers to do routine patrol, which includes the service road. Officers have done intentional sobriety checkpoints that also involved parish sheriff’s deputies and state police.

Rogers wants the speed limit lowered; so does Mayor Ronny Walker.

But DOTD has said no. “The current speed limit of 55 mph was determined to be the appropriate speed limit for this service road when we conducted our traffic studies,” area DOTD Public Information Office Erin Buchanan said.

DOTD said their traffic studies show 85% of the drivers on the road are travelling 55 mph or less.

“Studies have shown that traveling much faster or slower than the 85th percentile speed can increase the chances of a crash,” Buchanan said.

Rogers counters that the traffic has increased since all of the service road in now in the city limits; it’s now a oneway, two-lane road; and the city’s seen business growth along the south service road, in addition to the close proximity of Ruston Junior High School, just across the Tarbutton overpass.

The service road was converted to a one-way street in April of 2020. DOTD records show a 62% reduction in crashes since the conversion.

Complications

Grambling Police Chief Tommy Clark, Jr. said part of the dilemma is underage drinking. Louisiana law allows 18-, 19- and 20-yearolds to go in bars, but only 21-year-olds and up can legally purchase and consume alcohol.

Police suspect that in some instances 21-year-olds are buying alcohol and giving it to younger patrons.

Louisiana raised the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 in 1986 to avoid losing federal highway money. But it left the loophole for allowing younger people inside.

Clark suggested lighting would also help.

“That service road is extremely dark,” he said.

According to DOTD, a municipality could install lights with the state’s permission. But the city would have to pay for and maintain the lights.

Walker said he’ll pursue light and a lower speed limit again in the wake of the latest tragedy.

But authorities agree lights and lower speed limits are no guarantee the situation will change.

“ I don’t know how we stop it,” Rogers said. “All we can do it try. You’ve got the perfect storm out there. You have a restaurant and bar and a state highway and two universities. It’s a deadly storm.”