Wooded areas offer challenges for law enforcement
Markeeta Road in Moody is a winding, one-lane strip of asphalt that cuts through the forest just north of I-20. On its sides are trails that have been plowed by the tires of four-wheelers over the years as they cut their way into the growth on land owned by U.S. Steel.
This area is the site of three traffic fatalities in recent years. The road itself claimed one life in 2015, while the woods claimed two more in years past. It’s also the area where Leeds Police discovered a burned body earlier this year.
New traffic control measures put in place by the City of Moody aim to quell some of the speeding on Markeeta Road, but law enforcement officials have additional concerns in the off-road areas it can’t reach with ease.
Recently during a Moody City Council Meeting, Markeeta Road resident Lloyd Gilbert brought the issue of speeding to the public’s attention. One month ago, the city suffered a fatality on the road near where jurisdiction crosses from Moody to Leeds. A 34-year-old lost his life in a single vehicle accident when a Jeep he was driving left the roadway and overturned.
Gilbert, addressing the Council, recalled another collision from several years prior, but Moody Chief of Police Thomas Hunt could not confirm it. Gilbert said an 18-year-old man lost control of his vehicle and struck a mobile home more than 50 feet off the road. Gilbert said the crash killed the man.
“It’s a sad thing to have somebody pass away in your yard,” Gilbert said. “It affects us.”
Gilbert told members that the problem on the road isn’t simply the speeds people are driving — it’s what’s being driven. He alleges that four-wheel drive and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) are some of the most frequent culprits.
This allegation points back to the uninhabited U.S. Steel land that draws ATVs to the area. Many parts of this natural wilderness are located in Leeds City Limits. And according to Leeds Chief of Police Byron
Jackson, off-road drivers can cut through the land to the Cahaba River. But out there, first responders have little access if something goes wrong.
“You can make it out to Floyd Bradford Road (Trussville) if you cross the river, and we’ve had a couple vehicle wrecks in that area.”
In 2013, Jackson said three individuals were driving down the river when the Jeep they were in landed in a hole and started to fill with water. Two male passengers were able two escape, but a 26-year old woman from Remlap did not. She drowned in the incident.
Jackson said even getting the coroner to the site of the death proved difficult with the department’s available resources, and the woman’s body had to be removed from the scene.
Jackson said a solution for keeping people off the land hasn’t been easy to come by. In fact, he added that it’s endemic for rural areas of the state. Most departments aren’t equipped with ATVs that can navigate the dense woods. Leeds has two Hummers, but Jackson said the wide vehicles can only travel certain trails.
Jackson previously worked in Jefferson County law enforcement and said a common solution in that county to keep vehicles out of certain properties was to pile mounds of dirt at trail entrances.
“You’ll see that in most counties,” he said. “And the day after they’re put in you can see tire tracks over and around the piles.”
Oh the U.S. Steel land in Leeds, Jackson said the owners have installed gates, which have subsequently been torn down or avoided all together.
“Game wardens are out there from time to time, and we patrol occasionally,” Jackson said. “But we don’t really want to send our officers into something that’s so hard to get out of. It’s like catacombs back there.”
Policing the US Steel land would require dedicated officers, but Jackson said it was unlikely the City would focus additional resources on the site, instead choosing to use its limited funds to deploy officers to areas of the highest population. Pell City Chief of Police Greg Turley provided a similar explanation.
“It is tough to work our rural areas, and it usually only is able to take place when we are caught up or have specific issues to address like illegal dumps, reports of drug activity or DUI bypass areas,” Turley said.
Chief Hunt said after talking with Gilbert and Moody Mayor Joe Lee that the Department had increased patrols on Markeeta Road to control some of the speeding. But the answer to residents accessing the U.S.
Steel property seems out of reach for the time being.