4-way stop to be added at crash-prone Oswego intersection

Oswego village officials hope making the intersection of Fifth Street and Bluegrass Parkway a four-way stop will help reduce the number of crashes there.

At the April 22 Village Board meeting, trustees unanimously approved installing two additional stop signs at the intersection. The issue had been discussed at the April 8 Committee of the Whole meeting.

Currently, stop signs are installed for east- and westbound traffic on Bluegrass Parkway while Fifth Street functions as a through intersection with additional pedestrian safety measures in place.

The intersection is located near Brokaw Learning Center and has some proximity to Plank Junior High School and Churchill Elementary School.

“Given the extreme, in my mind, very extreme number of accidents, 12 in the last couple of years, which is an average of about four per year, I think it’s a no-brainer,” Oswego Village President Ryan Kauffman said. “I know I’ve had a lot of residents reach out to me expressing the same. And it makes the most sense to me that we do this.”

Village Trustee Kit Kuhrt agreed. He noted two crashes at the intersection recently occurred in the same week.

“That intersection is not safe for the children,” he said.

Village Trustee Karen Novy also agreed that the intersection needs a four-way stop.

“I spend a lot of time talking to residents in Churchill Club subdivision, and I know it’s a concern for them,” she said. “I would like to see a four-way stop there.”

Village Trustee Tom Guist said he expects a traffic light will eventually have to be installed at the intersection, especially as the number of the cars going through the intersection continues to increase.

The posted speed limit on Fifth Street is 35 mph and is 25 mph on Bluegrass Parkway.

Oswego Police Chief Jason Bastin said speeding was not a major issue in the crashes that have occurred at the intersection.

“These crashes, most of them, have been a failure-to-yield issue,” he said.