UPDATE: Crews from the Georgia Department of Transportation were installing a four-way stop at the intersection Monday afternoon.
Crews worked throughout the afternoon to install the new stop signs, but GDOT says they are only temporary.
According to a GDOT representative, following the recent incidents and fatalities at this intersection, they are converting the area into a 4-way stop while they work to come up with a permanent solution.
Jones County Sheriff Butch Reece says the possibility of a stoplight has been discussed before, and will probably be discussed again following the 3 fatalities that have occurred here in the last week.
"Well, I'm sure the engineers are looking at that, and I'm sure they have before, so maybe they're looking at it now a little bit harder than they have in the past, but there are plans to do something different here," says Reece.
Reece says no matter what ends up being the permanent solution, people have GOT to pay attention at this "dangerous" and "confusing" intersection.
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After the third death in a week Monday at the new Gray Bypass, officials said they're making the intersection a four-way stop.
Stop signs are currently located on the Eatonton Highway, but not on the two-month-old bypass.
While at the scene of Monday morning's fatal accident, Jones County Sheriff Butch Reece was fed up and taking the law in his own hands.
He said his office will be installing a four-way stop Monday using signs from the Jones sheriff's office. "I'm sure DOT wont like it, but we have to do something to make this intersection safer," he told 13WMAZ.
Soon after making that declaration, the sheriff's office posted on its Facebook page that state Rep. Susan Holmes (R - Monticello) blessed the idea of a four-way stop until a permanent solution is made.
However, it's unclear when the stop signs will be added.
We've reached out to the Georgia Department of Transportation and our calls were not returned.
Two people died Thursday in a collision between a logging truck and a flatbed truck at the same intersection.
As crews finished cleaning up after that wreck, Reece said he saw a firsthand account of the confusing roadway. "In an hour or so, I counted 11 near misses," he said.
While at the accident scene Monday, Reece said he was going to keep a deputy at the intersection to help guide drivers through the dangerous bypass.
