- It's a legal u-turn at 168th & Western Avenue, but neighbors in the Briar Hills have expressed concerns over how safe it is.
- The city says it was designed this way for a reason and offers crash report data.
- There are no current plans to change the u-turn at the intersection.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
On 168th and Western Avenue, U-turns are made at this intersection daily.
3 News Now has been following this story for a couple of days after we heard from neighbors in the Briar Hills neighborhood about crashes they've witnessed on the busy road where U-turns are legal.
We requested data from the City Traffic Engineer, Jeff Riesselman to learn more about crashes reported in the area. The data shows there have only been two crashes since the widening project was completed: one in 2020 and one on Jan. 2 of this year.
According to the data, those two crashes did not involve the U-turn. The report from Jan. 2 also indicates there were no injuries, yet neighbors are still frustrated with the design of the road.
"Our first problem was that people drive really fast on it. It's not a 45 mph coming towards the south they go closer to probably 60,” said neighbor Mike Gast.
On top of the fast flow of traffic; "Usually, there's at least one or two accidents a week I would say,” said neighbor Mallory Tostenson.
So why do people do it?
If you’re coming from the east, it's the shorter way to get to the DMV and car dealerships on Burt Street.
The other option is to take 180th to Burt and double back.
City officials say that's actually the way it was designed.
That may be the way it was designed, but neighbors suggest that's not happening.
"And that's not what the mapping software tells you to do and if you're following your navigation software and it tells you to take 168th to go up to Western and do a U-turn at the intersection that's what you're gonna do,” said Gast.
When it comes to changes, there are many opinions.
"We have one side that says no U-turn when you're coming down this way, but they should have a no U-turn going up the other direction that would eliminate a lot of these accidents,” said neighbor Chuck Crafton.
"Well, I wish they would put in a left turn lane so that people could go to the DMV there without having to come here and make a U-turn,” said neighbor Rich Skeels.
As for the city public works department, they tell me there are no current plans to change the U-turn or update the roads in this area.
