Busy North Medford intersection could see changes

Medford, Ore.- Every year the Medford Public Works department makes a list of the 50 most dangerous intersections in the city and sees what they can do to improve them.

Right now the city has its sights on the intersection of Crater Lake Avenue and Owen Drive.

“It has a relatively high accident rate for the volume that occurs there,” Cory Crebbin, public works director for the city of Medford said.”There are changes we can make to the intersection.”

Those changes include installing a traffic signal or a roundabout.

Thursday night, councilors approved moving forward with an analysis to figure out which option would be the best.

“You have to have a certain balance of traffic between the legs, you have to geometrically be able to re-configure the intersection,” Crebbin said.

While a roundabout may be more expensive Crebbin says they have a lot of benefits.

“When you do have accidents at a roundabout, both cars are usually going generally in the same direction so there is less energy,” he said.”The other one is there is typically less delay at a roundabout.”

Once city council receives the data, councilors will choose which direction to move forward with.

Construction could start in 18 to 24 months.

© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.

Skip to content