Sean C. Morgan
The City of Sweet Home is looking at options to provide a safer pedestrian crossing at the intersection of 22nd and Main streets, the site of a serious crash involving a pedestrian March 15.
Following that crash, the driver committed suicide. The victim, Katrina Hadland, went to Oregon Health Sciences University for surgery. Her condition improved and she has left the intensive care unit.
“Witnesses indicate Hadland entered the crosswalk heading south and was struck,” said Police Chief Jeff Lynn. The Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team has documented the crash scene and gathered evidence, but Lynn did not have a report back on the accident or further details by press time.
The intersection was the site of another major accident Aug. 17, 2017, Lynn said. Earl Jones, using a powered wheelchair, was crossing north when he was struck in the crosswalk by an eastbound driver.
Sun in the eyes was a factor in the crash, Lynn said, but drivers still need to anticipate.
“Earl has been working with Joe (Graybill, staff engineer) down at City Hall about what we can do to improve that intersection,” Lynn said.
Jones, who does not drive, used to walk around town and when his legs began hurting too much, began using a power chair. He was hit in the intersection and seriously injured about a year and a half ago.
Barber Erik Göttsegen, owner of Sweet Home Barber Shop, located at 22nd and Main, saw Jones hit.
“She was doing over 40 mph,” Göttsegen said. Jones and his scooter were thrown 50 feet – and as high as the roof of one of the houses across the street. “I just started crying because I thought Earl was dead.”
The city is going to do something about the intersection this year, Lynn said.
“At a minimum, we’re looking at improved lighting.”
“It’s been a problem over the years,” Graybill said, noting that the intersection and crosswalk are open, with high visibility and well lit. “We’ve been looking at it since before Bi-Mart (opened).”
The city will change the street lights to LED, Graybill said, to make it different visually from the surrounding area.
It may be awhile before Pacific Power changes out street lights in general to LED, Graybill said, but the city could speed it up by putting money into the project.
Graybill said that moving the crosswalk from the east side of the intersection to the west side could help too.
That may help to visually open up the crosswalk more, he said.
Graybill is also looking into installing “rectangular rapid flashing beacons” at the intersection, he said. Those are the flashing crosswalk lights, like those on Highway 20 at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital in Lebanon. Pedestrians push a button when they’re going to cross, and the lights begin flashing. They cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000 to $15,000.
The intersection won’t meet Oregon Department of Transportation warrants for a traffic signal, Graybill said, but ODOT has a process to install the flashing lights. He began talking unofficially about the idea with ODOT and the School District after Jones’ crash.
To install the lights, the school zone must be removed to reduce potential confusion, Graybill said, and the School District has already agreed to that concept.
Graybill opened the official process after the most recent crash, he said. ODOT is moving forward with a review of the intersection to ensure it can conform to ODOT rules. Typically, the lights require a median pedestrian refuge, but that would interfere with the turn lanes at 22nd and Main.
Graybill doesn’t know if that can happen this budget year, which ends June 30, he said, but it could be next year.
City Manager Ray Towry said that new lighting at the pedestrian level might help improve safety at night.
“We understand there’s a perception of an issue (at that intersection),” Towry said. The decision to install flashing lights needs to be based on data.
People have a lot of anecdotal evidence, Graybill said, and he’s heard many stories of people nearly hit from neighbors of the intersection.
Permit Technician Molly Laycock drives through the intersection daily, during busy times.
“I have seen many near-hits,” she said. “It’s more often than not someone in the opposite lane (from the pedestrian) just going.”
Jones said he has used the crosswalk for years, and it’s gotten a lot busier with the addition of McDonald’s, the Police Department, Bi-Mart and Dollar General.
Bi-Mart opened in spring 2014, with access from 22nd Avenue. Prior to that, 22nd Avenue accessed only a small neighborhood, and the Bi-Mart property was a field.
Jones believes a lot more people have been getting hit at that intersection, he said. “They need a flashing light.”
He thinks a traffic signal is needed, he said, but noted that flashing light might help make a difference.
He’s not certain about that though, he said. The main problem: “Some people don’t really pay attention. They concentrate on what’s in front, not around them.”
Göttsegen said he sees two to five pedestrians “that almost get whacked” every day because drivers don’t stop in either direction, “and they’re speeding here usually.”
“I’ve saved five kids crossing the street,” he said.
It gets really dangerous when someone does stop.
Once a car stops, little children will enter the crosswalk immediately without looking to the next lane or the other way, Göttsegen said. He’ll yell at them to stop and then explain the danger and how to cross the street safely.
He recounted the story of three girls who tried to cross that way. A vehicle missed them by a foot after he yelled at them to stop.
“Every day, there’s stuff,” Göttsegen said. He sees drunks, and “a lot of people on cell phones. No one’s paying attention. This is the most dangerous area I’ve ever been in.”
And he is from Los Angeles.
He has been working at that location for six years, 12 hours a day, six days a week.
He has seen three major accidents, including Jones, but he didn’t see the impact that left Hadland injured, Göttsegen said. Jones’ was the worst he witnessed. He’s also witnessed many incidents involving vehicles only, he said
Like Jones, Göttsegen believes a traffic signal would be the best solution, but a flashing light would be an improvement.
Police Communications Supervisor Penny Leland has compiled a list of accidents at the intersection for the past 10 years.
From March 2009 to March 2019, police responded to 25 crashes at the intersection. Fourteen of those, four involving a pedestrian and one involving a bicyclist, were after Bi-Mart opened in 2014. Eleven, including two involving a pedestrian and two involving a bicyclist, were prior. These are approximately five-year periods.
In the full 10-year period, three of the crashes involving a pedestrian were vehicles rear-ending vehicles that had stopped for pedestrians.
At 23rd and Main, which does not have a marked crosswalk and is a T-intersection, police have responded to eight crashes in the past 10 years. One of them involved a vehicle rear-ending another that had stopped for a pedestrian.
At 24th and Main, which does not have a marked crosswalk, police responded to four crashes in the past 10 years. None involved pedestrians.
At Clark Mill and Main, a 45-mph zone with a marked crosswalk, police responded to nine crashes, none involving pedestrians, during the past 10 years.
The city will meet with Pacific Power this week to talk about lighting improvements at 22nd and Main, Towry said. Going forward, city officials will take a look at the data to help decide on further action.
The available data may not be enough information though.
“How many close calls are there that don’t get reported?” Towry asked. Gathering that data is hard to do.