Deadly Eugene crash prompts city and county to improve River Road intersection

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Deadly Eugene ****** prompts city and county to improve River Road intersection

After a deadly car ****** in December, Eugene and Lane County officials are looking to install short- and long-term safety enhancements at the intersection of River Road and Beacon Drive in the Santa Clara Neighborhood.

Neighbors in the area expressed safety concerns regarding the intersection after a fatal two-vehicle ****** left a 13-year-old dead and sent four other teens to the hospital with life-threatening injuries in December.

“This is a challenging area where we have higher speed, rural roads meeting densely populated suburban streets,” Becky Taylor, Lane County Senior Transportation Planner said. “We’re working closely with the City of Eugene’s transportation staff to identify opportunities to enhance safety at the intersection.”

Jeff Wetherell is a Eugene resident who lives near the intersection of River Road and Beacon Drive. In December, he told The Register-Guard that car wrecks are a frequent problem at the intersection.

“I know that in the last year, it feels as if there’s been a wreck every single month. It’s happening a lot,” Wetherell said. “There’s never just a little fender bender where the police don’t have to show up. It is usually a car is flipped, a car spins out into a ditch.”

Wetherell highlighted some of the issues he’s seen at the intersection, which include speeding cars, timing misjudgments, and lack of visibility at certain times of the day.

A memorial at the intersection of Beacon Drive and River Road marks the scene of a vehicle accident that took the life of a local teenager and put four others in the hospital.

County and city officials said current changes to the intersection include the following:

The addition of red flashing beacons and reflective tape to the stop signs on Beacon Drive.

Lane County has ordered the equipment needed to install solar-powered LED stop signs and a speed-feedback sign in the southbound lane of River Road north of the intersection with Beacon Drive. Once the needed hardware arrives, installation will occur.

Lane County is evaluating whether supplemental warning signs for drivers traveling on Beacon Drive toward River Road could be effective without being distracting.

City and county officials also claim they’ve started working with the Oregon Department of Transportation to evaluate the posted speed limit on Beacon Drive and will do so for River Road soon. Eugene plans to perform a preliminary engineering analysis of the viability of long-term safety improvements, such as a roundabout.

“The City and Lane County agreed that adding eye-catching displays to remind drivers of the speed and the upcoming intersection would be beneficial,” Chris Henry, Traffic Operations manager with Eugene Public Works said. “It’s a start while we investigate larger possibilities.”

Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking news and public safety reporter for The Register-Guard. You may reach her at *****@*****.tld.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard:

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