ODOT, Logan County Officials Hope To Prevent Crashes With Safety Improvements

Logan County officials said there's been several safety concerns with State Highway 33 for years. They’re hoping to prevent crashes by adding safety improvements to the roadways.

Flashing LED stop signs were recently installed at the intersection of Broadway and State Highway 33.

“That was really in an effort to try and draw more attention to motorists at night who are coming up upon that intersection and a lot of people may not realize that highway traffic does not stop and it's going highway speeds,” Oklahoma Department of Transportation spokesperson Lisa Shearer-Salim said.

Cedar Valley mayor Stan Wieczorek recently made a formal request that the proper studies be made to look at lowering the speed limit in an effort to reduce the growing number of injury and fatal accidents.

Guthrie Fire Chief Eric Harlow said when his crew is dispatched to a call on Highway 33, it's usually never good news.

“Anytime we hear it, you’re thinking, ‘Uh, it's going to be another bad one,’” Harlow said. “Just based on what we've had this year in 2021, so far.”  

Harlow said there's been 11 fatal crashes in Logan County. Several of them have been along the State Highway 33 corridor.

“We've had four fatal crashes just on the stretch of 33 west of town,” Harlow said. “Two of those having been at the Broadway intersection.”  

The Guthrie Fire Department said it is hoping to make future improvements, such as adding rumble strips to that intersection and State Highway 33 when funding becomes available.

“I do know ODOT has some long-term plans that they're looking at that intersection,” Harlow said. “Possibly looking at the need to add some left-hand turn lanes along the 33 to kind of help the traffic flow in that intersection. As things continue to grow out there, it may get to the point where they need to put full traffic signals out there, as well.”

ODOT launched a new safety effort this year called Make Safety Stick: Everybody Click.

Each month they highlight a different topic. For the month of June they are discussing driver error. The department says as the weather warms up and things start to get back to normal traffic will increase. They advising drivers to pay attention to signage on the roadways and to always wear a seatbelt.

For more information on ODOT’s Make Safety Stick program, click here.