One of the big concerns of the Roth Hill Road casino development is the safety of the access — the road is very steep and it is currently the only way in or out.

Big trucks, buses and just normal traffic (hundreds of cars per day if the casino ever opens) could find the street very difficult to navigate depending on weather conditions and/or mechanical problems.

Not to mention an extreme emergency situation requiring multiple emergency vehicles navigating up and down one steep roadway as hundreds of casino customers may be trying to leave.

This past Wednesday we had a very “simple” example of what could happen. An Atmos Energy employee got out of his truck to mark the underground pipeline only to have an apparent malfunction release the truck from “park” and set it on a rapidly escalating decent down Roth Hill Road, ramping into the river more than 10 feet from the bank, and disappearing below the water. Fortunately it had no passenger.

This is similar to the motor home, which not long ago disappeared into the river when situated on the steep ramp Under-the-Hill, and also of the motorcycle a few years ago that lost control descending Roth Hill and catapulted onto the rip rap on the bank (the river was quite low), destroying the motorcycle and seriously injuring the rider.

We should all think about the possibility of a bus driver with a load of tourists or a carload of seniors either losing control or having a mechanical malfunction going down Roth Hill Road and ending up in the river.

We could lose lots of people in one event, and who would be responsible for the inadequate safety measures of this public road?

Since our previous fire chief supposedly reported this road as adequate for emergency vehicles, and the mayor, aldermen and city attorney have accepted this certificate, they and the city could potentially be exposed to a lawsuit, which could result in huge damage awards, which would probably come from the pockets of Natchez taxpayers.

Yes, we should all think about it.

 

Paris B. Winn

Natchez resident