ODOT changing certain intersections

VW independent staff/submitted information

The intersection of Ohio 613 and Ohio 637,near the village of Melrose in Paulding County will become a four way stop this spring.

It’s one of eight intersections in northwest Ohio that are being converted to all-way stops by Ohio Department of Transportation District 1 to improve safety.

The locations selected for conversion are where crash data found the most common type of crash was the result of a failure to stop or a failure to yield to cross-traffic that was not required to stop.

“These intersections have a higher rate of angle crashes, which often result in serious injuries or fatalities,” said Chris Hughes, ODOT District 1 deputy director. “Our goal is zero fatalities. When all approaches are expected to stop, crash severity is significantly reduced.”

The change at Ohio 613/Ohio 637 is scheduled to take place the week of May 4. Similar conversions will take place at other intersections in Defiance, Wyandot, Hancock and Putnam counties between early March and early May.

Message boards to alert drivers of the changes will be placed approximately two weeks prior and remain on site for approximately two weeks after the change to remind motorists of the new traffic pattern. All approaches of the intersections will be equipped with flashing stop-ahead signs. 

ODOT will continue to monitor the intersections to ensure the all-way stop is operating as intended.

Throughout Ohio, ODOT is reviewing intersections to determine where all-way stops could make travel safer. The solution has been found to improve intersection safety in other states. Since 2018, the state of North Carolina converted over 500 intersections from a typical two-way to all-way stop control. Their analysis of 348 of these locations showed a 100% reduction in fatal crashes and 95 percent reduction in serious injury crashes. Similar results were also seen in the state of Delaware.