[This article has been updated with information from ODOT spokesperson Gary Leaming regarding future plans for the intersection.]
WHITE CITY, Ore. – Police are investigating a crash that killed a California couple in White City.
Oregon State Police said the crash happened at about 1:30 p.m. on December 28 at the intersection of Highway 140 and Kershaw Road.
Initial witness statements indicated a semi-truck pulling a trailer was traveling westbound on Highway 140. A passenger vehicle appears to have failed to yield at a traffic signal at Kershaw Road and drove into the path of the oncoming semi.
Police said a husband and wife from California were the only occupants of the passenger vehicle. They did not survive the crash.
The driver of the semi-truck was not injured and is cooperating with the investigation.
A crash reconstruction team is at the scene. The Oregon Department of Transportation said to watch for traffic control and expect a lengthy crash investigation.
The intersection of Kershaw Road and Highway 140 has long been considered an issue. In 2016, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office responded to four car crashes at the intersection.
A petition for a stop light at the intersection was started after a young motorcyclist was killed in the area. At the time this article was published, the petition reached over 3,500 signatures. You can view the petition HERE.
According to ODOT spokesperson Gary Leaming, the motorcycle crash was the first fatality since 2006. That’s when an ODOT safety project skewed Kershaw Road at the intersection and added warning signals and signs on Highway 140.
Leaming stated, “In 2020, when Jackson County extends Foothill Rd. north to Atlantic and Oregon 140, a new intersection will be constructed at OR 140 and Atlantic with a highway-style roundabout. ODOT will limit Kershaw to right in-right, right out movements only.”
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