Salisbury City Council approved a plan to install a median at an intersection on Jake Alexander Boulevard South in an effort to prevent traffic accidents.

The intersection at Jake Alexander Boulevard S. and Morlan Park Road, about half a mile west of where Jake Alexander meets Faith Road, has had 32 accidents, including one fatality, since 2008, according to city staff. The state Department of Transportation, which maintains Jake Alexander Boulevard, has been looking at ways to make the intersection safer for years.

Councilman Brian Miller said, “It’s a hazardous intersection, no doubt about it.”

The plan put forward by DOT involves installing a directional median at the intersection. The median would prevent cars on Morlan Park Road from turning left onto Jake Alexander Boulevard and going straight across the intersection. But cars would still be able to turn left from Jake Alexander onto Morlan Park.

The median will not block access to existing driveways on Jake Alexander Boulevard, but it is expected to reduce traffic on Morlan Park Road, which is mostly used by people cutting through between Jake Alexander Boulevard and Faith Road, according to city staff.

In the past, residents in the area have said they want a traffic signal installed at the intersection, but DOT does not recommend it because a traffic signal would conflict with the railroad crossing nearby on Jake Alexander Boulevard and slow the flow of traffic on the boulevard.

Around 15,000 vehicles a day pass through the intersection on Jake Alexander Boulevard. Another 1,500 come through it from Morlan Park Road.

The DOT is responsible for covering the cost of the project, estimated at $400,000, and would evaluate its necessity against other “spot safety” needs on roads it maintains across the state. If other areas are deemed more important, the median for Jake Alexander Boulevard and Morlan Park Road could be skipped.

The alternate route for people who live on Morlan Park Road south of the intersection and who want to head west on Jake Alexander Boulevard takes a little more than three minutes, according to city staff. The route goes down Morlan Park to Faith Road, up to Faith Road and Jake Alexander Boulevard, and then left onto Jake Alexander Boulevard.

Council voted 4-0 to approve the plan. Mayor Paul Woodson was not at the meeting.

In other business Tuesday, council:

• approved a special use permit allowing the Literary Bookpost, on South Main Street, to sell alcohol — wine and beer — and for patrons to consume alcohol at the store.

• heard a presentation on the possibility of issuing residential parking permits for people who live in the downtown area. The plan is still being developed, but it would allow downtown residents to purchase a parking permit that allows them to park in certain two-hour-parking spaces downtown longer than two hours without being ticketed — but parking spaces downtown would still be on a first-come first-served basis.

Council approved a motion to have city staff continue working on the plan and bring a final proposal back to council.

• set a public hearing for May 19 regarding updates to the city’s Historic District Design Guidelines.

• adopted a policy establishing a process for making certain, approved minutes of closed session meetings open to the public. At least once a year, city staff would review minutes of closed-session meetings to determine if any minutes can be made public.