The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) recognized the crucial need to address safety concerns at the US 97 and Jones Road intersection in Yakima County. This 15-mile stretch of highway has numerous at-grade intersections and is considered to have one of the highest fatality rates in the state. In the past 10 years, there have been 350 crashes and 22 reported fatalities along the corridor. To improve safety, WSDOT proposed constructing multiple roundabouts along the 15-mile corridor with concurrence from the Yakama Nation Tribal Council – as roundabouts are increasingly becoming a preferred method to improve safety because they eliminate head-on and T-bone collisions. In the fall of 2023, WSDOT and its contractor crews completed the second roundabout within the corridor at the US 97 and Jones Road intersection. The new roundabout has improved access from Jones Road entering US 97 for all motorists, while bolstering pedestrian safety by facilitating crossing one direction of traffic at a time and necessitating lower speeds; thereby reducing the severity of potential injuries.
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