To the editor:
I am horrified at the number of fatal head-on collisions on U.S. Highway 20 between Newport and Philomath. Many or most seem to be at the Blodgett Road intersection. So my questions:
1) What can be done in the next 60 days to reduce or eliminate deaths?
2) What are plans for improvements or changes by the beginning of the next tourist season?
— Linda Brown/Waldport
Please have your facts straight before writing letters. One fatality this year was at the Blodgett intersection, two were at the county line, two were in Gellatly Canyon, and three were on Cline Hill. Yes, something needs to be done, but for that to happen the facts need to be correct. Thank you
They same thing they should do on Highway 34 East of Waldport. Have state police or the county sheriff’s office patrol it regularly. I’ve used both highways quite often and have never once seen any law enforcement presence while traveling these roads. Every weekend on Highway 34 we get a dozen or so sports motorcycles in groups going twice the speed limit, crossing double yellow lines and other vehicles passing on double yellow lines. They put the locals and other folks on the road in danger. When myself and my neighbors call Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office they either put us on hold until we hang up, or they say that it is too dangerous to pull anyone over on these small highways and that there is nothing that they can do.
For starters lower the speed limit, at least going up the hill on the eastbound side. Then, of course, a center divide.
They need to follow through with widening Highway 20 like it was intended.
A divided highway with a tree lined park between the two-way traffic. The two lanes do not need to be parallel of each other. Just use the natural land to carve the other lane. It doesn’t need to be straight, just not too curvy. Beautiful, relaxing, no headlights to contend with and easier with less cost to construct. Beautify.
The only thing that will have any effect in that amount of time is people choosing to drive safer. My job puts me on that road 6 days a week. When I hit my directional signals and tap my brakes, I’m still being tail gated and honked at.
Drivers are jerks.
Flashing lights that look like trooper lights, working off of a roadside radar? Memorials in LARGE print? Harvesters crossing the road every three miles? Driver testing, for sure.
Agreed. It is such a huge issue for me that we’re moving. The accidents on 101 as well and the unacceptable conditions of the road between Newport and Depoe Bay. Drivers need to have their headlights on while driving. In the gray fog and mist and with the dark forests you simply cannot see cars without headlights on. And people passing because five seconds is too long to wait. Lastly the log trucks. Please slow down. Why are you driving 70 mph anywhere?
Having more police presence might slow these drivers down. Speed is one of the main reasons this highway is so unsafe. Until this is addressed, we will continue to see this nightmare!!
Could middle barriers be added? Like Highway 22 from Dallas to Salem? I drove that for years before and after. It drastically reduced accidents. And maybe flashing lights where it happened. Maybe add more reflectors. Seems like something can be done. We are so heart broken. We knew Shylene Olsen. To lose these two beautiful young women should never be forgotten and they deserve something done to honor them.
This is not a road problem this is a people problem. Driver errors unfortunately, plain and simple.
How about radar photo detectors set at speed limits at various sites. Anybody going 30 miles over speed limit would be felony with loss of license.
More pull-over lanes. Slow cars that don’t no the road, and cars passing where the shouldn’t. Please pull over if safe and let all those cars behind you pass.Dangerous passing spots. Just east of county line should not be a passing lane. I have been ran off road many times. No suicide passing lanes (cline hill). For God sake be courteous, take a deep breath, and give yourself extra time for travel. We all share the road, no more deaths.
It’s not driving too fast. Fast does not equal bad. Slow vehicle turnouts for the 30 to 40 mph travels with enforcement. It’s the road hogs that make everyone mad and cause idiots to pass in unsafe places. And the passers are idiots if going faster means risking lives. The slow people are very annoying when they have 15-20 people behind them and won’t pull over. So pull outs would be great. And the 50 mph travelers are just as annoying. Why can’t they go 55? But they can go 50 in the 45s? Do they just set cruise at 50 and leave it there no matter the speed zone? They should pull over if holding up traffic also. I pull over if I’m going 60 and someone wants to go faster. Let the fast ones pass and everyone would be happy.
I don’t think that any kind of road improvement will help from deaths caused by people driving to fast. That is why we have our new Highway 20 20 improved. There are no twisty winding curves that we all drove on our old highway. The deaths that occur are from the same reasons — people need to slow down quit passing at the last second and pay attention.
We need to have two left-turn lanes southbound on Highway 101 and westbound from Highway 20. It is clogging traffic during peak hours. We definitely need to widen that intersection with a new traffic signals. Safety first on the highway.
Excess speed and reckless drivers will never be solved by road improvements. Case in point — this road has been vastly improved from what we used to drive; now speeds have increased and so have accidents.
It’s worth considering that roads like U.S. Hwy 101 and 20 are public transportation, maintained by federal, state, and county taxes and fees. But unlike using the county bus (unclear why we don’t have a statewide bus system), you have to privately own your own vehicle to participate in Oregon’s asphalt public transit. The cheapest way is to use a bicycle, or walk and stand on the often muddy road shoulder to wait for a bus (like the Blue Line on Hwy 20 between Toledo and Newport). Rumble strips, a road surface that is awful to bike on, are often right where people are expected to bike.
Without sidewalks or bike lanes, the safest people are likely the richest–or most indebted–drivers who have purchased the hugest personal vehicles. They are also capable of being the most deadly weight-wise when combined with reckless driving behavior like inattention or high speeds. High speeds are less survivable and harder to error-correct from. Our eyes can’t focus in time on say, a deer in the road. When you’re trying to turn left, a speeding driver will cross your path much sooner than you’d expect or judge if they were going the speed limit. ODOT staff has said that narrowing car lane width by a couple feet can be used to slow driver speed and create more safety for everyone. Beautifying our highways could include making bike riders and bus users safe behind concrete barriers or buffers between them and cars. Safety is beauty.
Unfortunately, state legislators of all political persuasions are committing a billion of Oregon’s general tax fund dollars into widening a couple miles of the I-5 in Portland near the Blazers’ stadium, and new interstate bridge design. Coastal and rural highways thus remain undiversified in terms of transportation mode and choice. Worldwide, Vision Zero programs have led to better road design choices that are true “improvements,” not just a euphemism. Since affordable safety of our highways & city connectivity is such a serious issue for people, I’d be surprised if the county commissioner candidate who champions coastal bus expansion the most doesn’t win the election. As of today the election is 60 days away, so to answer Linda’s question, one thing that can happen in the next 60 days is we can vote.