Huntsville police said a 2-year-old boy died less than a week after being involved in a crash that also killed a woman.
The crash happened on Highway 231 at Greelawn Drive when that woman fishtailed, crossed into on-coming traffic and hit a car with the child inside.
Larry Watkins said he's lived in Greenlawn Plantation off Highway 231 for about seven years. In that time, he says he’s seen many wrecks in the area, and when it rains he thinks the roadway becomes dangerous.
"Highway 231 is very busy particularly early in the mornings and late in the evenings. Northbound and southbound traffic, and it's open access interchange there's no lights," he said.
"You'll see an inch, two inches of water during heavy rain. That's what people encounter when they're going 60 miles per hour," he said.
Watkins said a former state representative helped get an acceleration lane installed but it created drainage issues.
WAAY 31 reached out to the Alabama Department of Transportation about the intersection. A spokesperson said it hadn't received the crash report yet but didn't believe the wreck was related to an issue on the road. The department did admit prolonged periods of excessive rain can cause groundwater to come up through the pavement. He explained work crews previously made drainage improvement and more improvements are planned the next time the road is resurfaced.
Watkins said he hopes something is done to stop people from getting hurt.
"I'm sure sooner or later something like this will happen. Not necessarily a fatality," he said.
Huntsville Police said no charges will be filed in the deadly wreck that happened, and the two adults who survived the crash sustained serious injuries.
WAAY 31 reached out to Huntsville Police to find out how many crashes it's responded to along that stretch of road- the department is working to gather that information.
State troopers told us the intersection is right on a jurisdiction line and they've worked crashes in the area, but the department of transportation keeps those records. ALDOT said it didn't have that data available.
