Time stops for no one, but will traffic? | The Sunday Column

By Chuck Thompson | The Sunday Column | Opinion

OPINION – There are some topics that should never be a Sunday Column.

Common sense, for instance, that should just be a given.

And also, pedestrian accidents at the Cleveland County Agricultural Fair.

This is the 102nd year. It’s one of those things that says fall has officially arrived in Cleveland County.

I like the Fair.

The rides, the food, livestock, people you haven’t seen since last year’s fair and, of course, the traffic.

Oh yeah, the traffic.

Something caught my attention the other day at the Fair that has nothing to do with funnel cakes, Ferris Wheels, farm animals or the Water Wheel: The traffic and pedestrian crossing system around the fairgrounds.

I’m not sure I like what I’m seeing.

Last year, Sarah Queen, 79, of Lawndale, was struck and killed while crossing E Marion Street near the fairgrounds on Oct. 1, 2025. She wasn’t crossing some deserted country road. She was crossing a major road beside the largest county fair in North Carolina.

The Fair hired police officers stationed to stop traffic for pedestrians, later that day, during the busiest periods. Fair officials told television reporters at the time that they were asking people to slow down, pay attention and follow the officers.

However, allegedly, police officers weren’t requested to manage traffic this time. This year the Fair decided to go a different route.

Currently, the fair is using a temporary traffic-control system involving portable signals, electric arm-gates, cones and a person in a hard hat pushing a button.

I went out there and looked at it on Thursday. I took a few photos.

Look at them… There are cones everywhere, temporary barriers that wouldn’t stop a bicycle, pedestrians crossing and cars moving through the same general area.

A car waits in the westbound lane on E. Marion Street for the man in the yellow vest to raise the gate with the orange flag. | Chuck Thompson

There are temporary traffic lights that are hard to see during the day; operated by a person with a remote control that manages the control of the orange flagged arm-gate that comes down, sometimes hitting cars that pull up too close – or almost slowly landing on the hood of cars and trucks.

The yellow and red lights are hard to see in the day, especially as the sun sets to the west, makes it much more difficult to see than at night, but it still doesn’t replace the flashing blue lights of patrol vehicles sitting on the blocked off entrances, keeping cars from potentially running into crowds as they gather just inches from the white lines of the street as cars hurry by when the gate is up.

I am sure the gate is working well, and as of Saturday night, still no known accidents / incidents and that's worth praise – but it only works accident free until it doesn’t.

Maybe it works perfectly. I hope it does, but standing there and looking at it, I found myself thinking about something rather simple: Would I want my 79-year-old loved one, or a child, crossing that street in the middle of this?

I’m not sure.

I saw plenty of children running ahead of their parents to cross the street as the arm-gate operator was constantly telling walkers to wait until the gate was completely down. At one point the gate operator was on the phone; I’m not sure how distracted that could be but I thought that was a bad look in my opinion. Shook my confidence in the new system.

I can’t help but wonder, if someone isn’t paying attention, will that be good enough? If the sun is in someone’s eyes will that be a problem? Will anyone see that faded yellow or red blinking light in the six-thirty to seven o’clock setting sun?

And that’s the question… Not whether somebody has designed a technically legitimate traffic-control system. Not if the equipment meets a particular standard or if somebody has decided that this is the most efficient way to handle traffic.

I’m asking whether it is obviously, definitely, safe for the ordinary person standing there trying to safely cross E. Marion Street.

Because that’s who we’re talking about.

Families, children, senior citizens, people carrying food and prizes, pushing strollers and those looking at their phones.

The gate-arm with the orange flag raises for the car to pass by during an unusual light traffic moment.

Think of the fairgoers who haven’t been to the Fair in 10-20 years and have absolutely no idea what the traffic pattern is supposed to be… Drivers who are trying to navigate a maze of cones, temporary signals and pedestrians, while looking for somewhere to turn.

That’s a lot of variables.

And there is one other thing worth remembering - The Cleveland County Fair isn’t some tiny private gathering happening in somebody’s backyard. The Fair draws more than 100,000 people each year and is the largest county fair in North Carolina.

Cleveland County taxpayers provide $162,500 a year in local taxpayer funding to the fair.

That’s public money. That’s your property tax money given to the fair by county government. Your house payment, car tax, trailer tax. Your money, my money and your mother’s money.

We all love the Fair. We’re proud of it being the largest county fair in the entire state, which is why we have a right, as taxpayers who not only contribute money to the Fair but still have to pay to get inside (county property), to expect the safest possible option while our families, friends and their friends and families are crossing the street back and forth.

That’s why, when tens of thousands of people show up at the same place, at the same time, we have to figure out how to get them from one side of the road to the other without somebody getting hurt.

Maybe they figured it out. Let’s hope so, but it’s perfectly reasonable for the public to ask questions about how the Fair handles something as fundamental as getting people safely across the road.

That’s not an attack on the Fair; it’s accountability. Apparently, 100,000 people and I enjoy going to the Fair. Let’s make sure it’s still around for future generations to enjoy, too.

Last year does not need to happen again. A safe year doesn’t need to cause us to get complacent to the point where another tragedy happens again in a year, two, or even 10 years from now just because we got lucky this year.

One death is too many.

Queen’s family has now filed a lawsuit against the N.C. Department of Transportation alleging that the crosswalk and surrounding roadway were not reasonably safe. The lawsuit is an allegation, not a finding by a court, but it underscores the fact that pedestrian safety at this location remains a legitimate public issue.

So, here’s my question:

Did we actually make the situation safer, or did we simply find a different way to temporarily control the traffic?

Those aren’t necessarily the same thing.

Maybe this system works. Maybe the gates and temporary signals will do exactly what they’re supposed to do. Maybe nobody will have a problem.

I sincerely hope that’s what happens, because nobody wants another tragedy.

Maybe I’m being overly cautious, as that’s entirely possible. But I’d rather be accused of being overly cautious about getting people across a busy road than have somebody tell me afterward that they wish someone had said something.

The Fair is fun. People are supposed to leave with a stomachache from eating too much fried food, a child crying to ride just one more ride and maybe a stuffed animal for a sweetheart won by spending entirely too much money winning the ring toss.

They shouldn’t leave in an ambulance – unless they try to wrestle the Alpacas in the barn. 

(Don’t try to wrestle the Alpacas)

Slow down.

Pedestrians, pay attention. Please look both ways before crossing the street and don’t count on any little arm-gate to keep you safe. It should, but just be careful.

Fair officials, keep watching the system and don’t be afraid to change it if it isn’t working.

And if you see me standing there, again, taking pictures of traffic cones, you’ll know it’s just another unfortunate Sunday Column that should have never been written.

Two vehicles pass one another as the gray car drives underneath the raised orange flag at the front entrance to the Fairgrounds in the eastbound lane. | Chuck Thompson

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Chuck Thompson is a reporter and columnist for The Shelby Independent. 

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