ODOT and Canadian County work together on dangerous intersection issue

CANADIAN COUNTY – After 73-year-old Ray Davis died in an accident at the Banner Rd. and Highway 66 intersection, his daughter Candy Davis-Schwarz made it her mission to make sure that didn’t happen to anyone else. That’s why she was furious to find out there isn’t a stoplight here because of a disagreement between ODOT and Canadian County over who would pay to maintain it. “Whether it’s ODOT or whether its the commissioner I don`t know.  I really at this point don`t care,” Candy told News 4.  “We want that fixed now.  I mean not in six months, not in a year, not in five years.  I want to see it tomorrow, next week.” News 4 spoke with County Commissioner Marc Hader last week, he said the two sides already had a previously scheduled meeting for Wednesday to discuss this exact issue. “We came up with, long term, a signal for the solution,” Hader said.  “We are going to try and get that 4-way-stop and some other measure in place for a temporary solution.” ODOT and county officials say there will be a traffic signal. They say the process could take two years or more, so that’s why in the meantime they plan on making it a 4-way-stop. “The stop signs are the perfect interim countermeasure to happen in advance of a traffic signal,” ODOT Chief Engineer Brian Taylor said.  “With the 4-way-stop we get to train the public to a stop condition.” They hope to have that done in the next 45-60 days. Commissioner Hader says when the light does go up, they’ll use a maintenance bond to pay a third party to take care of the signal.