Lisa Marchesoni
Posted: Friday, February 26, 2010 3:38 pm

Friends of a Riverdale High School senior who almost lost her life in a near-drowning Feb. 5 will petition the Rutherford County Road Board to install a guardrail at the site.

Senior Alisha Nance, now 18, was driving on Barfield Road when her car slipped off the road and into the Stones River. Passing drivers flipped over the car and prevented it from floating downriver until rescuers arrived.

Family friend Janice McGoldrick said Alisha remains in stable but critical condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.

McGoldrick and other friends will attend the Road Board meeting at 7 a.m. Monday at the Rutherford County Highway Department at 1510 Rutledge Way in Murfreesboro. They will petition the board to install a guardrail to prevent other people from sliding into the river.

County Roads Superintendent Mike Williams said he expects the Road Board to approve the installation of the guardrail. If approved Monday, an engineer will design the guardrail and bids will be opened at the April 5 meeting. “If approved April 5, it should be installed by the end of April at the latest,” Williams said.

Williams has received numerous calls about improving the road since the crash occurred. Landowners Whit and Debbie Thompson donate the land to add a shoulder at the crash site. Highway department employees hauled in rock and dirt to do the prep work for a shoulder with a guardrail that will be placed about 3 to 4 feet off the road. The prep work cost an estimated $14,000 in materials.

Because the cost of the guardrail will be more than $10,000, it must be bid. If approved, the bids will be opened for the April meeting. “We are in the red for the year because of gas taxes not coming in,” Williams said, adding he proposed to take the funds from the reserve fund.

Road Board member Randall “Bubba” Jones, who represents the Barfield community, said when members get a call about a road, they investigate.

“Safety is my No. 1 issue,” said Jones, who works as a captain with Murfreesboro Fire Department. “We are definitely concerned about this. I feel so badly about this little girl who drove off."

Now the problem has come to the board’s attention, Jones said members will take care of it.

“It’s not going to be a problem,” Jones said. “We’re going to make sure it’s done right.”

County Commissioner Gary Farley, who represents the Barfield community, started trying to get the guardrail approved the day after Nance’s crash. “I am 100 percent in favor of a guardrail where Alisha’s car went off in the river,” Farley said. “It’s a public safety issue. The Road Board needs to appropriate funds to fix it.”
He thanked the Thompsons for donating the land for the shoulder. “We need to save other lives and keep this from happening again,” Farley said. “I’d rather have a guardrail than potentially lose someone’ life. You can’t put a cost on someone’s life.”