These kinds of accidents caused the Logan County Engineer’s Office to intiate changes to the intersection. County Engineer Scott Coleman cited the most recent fatality at the location as a driving force for the improvements.
Abigail Dague, 16, of De Graff, died earlier this month when the vehicle her boyfriend was driving failed to stop at a stop sign on County Road 1 and was T-boned by an oncoming semi, according to an Ohio State Highway Patrol crash report. The vehicle then hit a nearby tree. Dague succumbed to her injuries three days after the crash.
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There have been six other crashes at the intersection that resulted in either injury or property damage. County Road 1, specifically, sees close to 3,000 cars every day.
On Monday, Coleman met the Ohio Department of Transportation at the intersection to discuss possible changes. The entities will focus on improving sight lines by moving signs away from the road, making stop signs larger and painting a new stop bar.
The side of the intersection where Dague’s boyfriend passed through doesn’t currently have a stop bar, and that stop sign is one scheduled to increase in size. Coleman said he’s heard suggestions about creating a four-way stop or installing a traffic light, but he said either of those would be too disruptive to current traffic patterns since drivers aren’t used to them. He said rumble strips didn’t seem to be a good option, either.
“We have had bad experiences with rumble strips in the past where drivers actually go left of center to avoid the rumble strips,” Coleman said.
Other improvements to the intersection have been made over the years to increase visibility, including clearing out brush and greenery.
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Maddie Bowman works at Piatt Castles, a museum located on the side of the intersection close to County Road 1.
“Definitely this hill right over there — people fly down it, and they don’t see the stop sign sometimes,” she said.
Dague’s boyfriend’s sister was one of her good friends. She said the accident has made her drive more carefully going to and from work.
“It’s heartbreaking, and it makes me want to be very cautious on the road and want to make sure my friends and my fellow members are also being cautious,” Bowman said.
Coleman said all of the changes to the intersection should be completed within the next couple of weeks. He said from an engineer’s standpoint, the best way to measure the effectiveness of the changes is crash history.
“We are going to assess how this performs, and hopefully this will solve the problem or (slow) the problem greatly and prevent any future fatalities,” he said.
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