Roundabout construction starts on OR-140

WHITE CITY, Ore. – A new roundabout is being built on Hwy 140 making it the first highway roundabout in Southern Oregon.

The stretch in White City has had a number of crashes, some of them fatal. The intersection of Oregon 140 and Kershaw Rd. is well known for being one of the most dangerous areas of Jackson County.

The Oregon Department of Transportation’s looking to make the area safer.

“We know we’ll be able to save lives, save injuries,” said ODOT’s Spokesperson, Gary Leaming.

It’s partnering with Jackson County to add a new roundabout.

“Roundabouts nearly eliminate all fatal and serious injury crashes,” says Kevin Haas, Traffic Standards Engineer for ODOT.

ODOT will extend Foothill Rd. north across Corey Rd. connecting it to the new roundabout. It will also keep many drivers from using Kershaw Rd. where they will no longer be able to cross the highway. That will prevent dangerous crashes there.

“This will clean up that intersection Kershaw, it will limit movements where nearly all of the crashes have been,” said Leaming.

But before getting the go ahead, ODOT ran a test course to see if different vehicles could handle the roundabout.

“Not real sharp, I think it will work just right,” said Bill Bronson, truck driver for Low Boy.

ODOT says it expects construction to finish towards the end of October 2020, but until then tells drivers to expect minor delays.

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