OKLAHOMA CITY – The Lawton/Duncan “wye” has been the scene of at least eight wrecks in the past two years, Oklahoma Department of Transportation records reflect.
The T-intersection of US- 81 and SH-7 three miles south of Marlow is the focus of a $248,245 contract awarded to Freese and Nichols, Inc., an engineering, planning and consulting firm. The Oklahoma City company will provide preliminary engineering construction plans for modifications of the junction.
Phase I will consist of “looking at all relevant traffic information and then studying up to four alternates for this location,” said Brenda Perry of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s Media and Public Relations Division. “These alternates will include a signalized intersection, a continuous-green T-intersection variation, displaced left-turns, and a multi-lane roundabout.”
The Phase I study will take about a year to complete, ODOT reported a month ago.
Phase II will be construction plans for the recommended alternative, Ms. Perry said.
Average daily traffic counts at that junction in 2019 were: 9,100 on SH-7 one-half mile west of the intersection; 14,500 on US-81 half a mile north of SH-7; and 12,500 on US-81 half a mile south of SH-7.
The eight wrecks at the intersection – five in 2019 and three in 2020 – included three accidents in which four people were injured, and five others that involved only property damage, ODOT records show.
ODOT’s database has been updated to Nov. 6, 2020, “so the totals won’t include any crashes at that location that have occurred since then,” said Cody Boyd of the agency’s Media and Public Relations Division. “Additionally, any crashes that weren’t reported to law enforcement won’t show up in our records.”