After hearing feedback from local leaders and state officials at a virtual meeting Monday morning, state Rep. Suzanne Weber indicated she would push for a study to evaluate the safety and needs along U.S. Highway 30.

Pressure to increase safety on the highway ramped up following the death of a 25-year-old woman last month in Knappa. Hannah Olson, a resident, was attempting to cross at the intersection with Old Highway 30 near milepost 82 on foot when she was struck by a car and killed.

Since Olson’s death, people in the community have voiced concerns about the intersection, which has businesses and houses on both sides, claiming that it has long been unsafe for pedestrians. Some have recommended reducing the 50 mph speed limit and improved lighting, while others have called for more significant changes, such as a flashing pedestrian crosswalk.

Earlier this month, the Sunset Empire Transportation District Board unanimously approved a letter to the Oregon Department of Transportation that called for a lower speed limit and a flashing pedestrian crosswalk. The transit district has a bus stop on the north side of the intersection.

“I know that’s very traumatic to the community of Knappa when something as tragic as that happens,” said Weber, a Tillamook Republican who was elected to the state Senate in November. “I want to avoid that sort of accident again and I know that’s a very busy highway.”

Monday’s meeting, led by Weber, included Cyrus Javadi, a Tillamook Republican who was elected last month to replace Weber in the state House, Clatsop County Commissioner Courtney Bangs and Commissioner Lianne Thompson, area law enforcement, officials from the state Department of Transportation, representatives from the Knappa School District and several others.

While much of the meeting centered around the intersection near Knappa, the discussion expanded to larger safety concerns about the highway.

“This meeting came about as a result of going to several meetings in the Astoria area and listening to people worried about Highway 30, especially in the Knappa area,” Weber said at the start of the meeting. “Then we had that tragic accident there and people started talking to me even more about it. Then we had the (landslide) … I would like to know what kind of data we have on the area and if anyone feels that there needs to be more oversight as to speed limits and other safety considerations that need to be taken into account.”

Near the end of November, a landslide hit the highway near milepost 74 near Wauna, causing the closure of a 4-mile stretch for several days. Only one lane of the highway is open while the cleanup continues.

A number of suggestions to improve safety and change driver behavior were made throughout the meeting, but Weber concluded that a larger study by the Department of Transportation needs be done.

“Seeing that (landslide) — I’m thinking about the other issues along Highway 30 that also need to be addressed,” she said. “Maybe we need to have a legislative effort that will analyze — just like what we’re doing with Highway 6 — all of Highway 30. Because I think some good recommendations could come forward from that.”

Earlier this year, legislation sponsored by Weber ordered the Department of Transportation to study state Highway 6 from Tillamook to near Banks and develop a report on its safety and other needs.

Weber said the bill she could pursue would look at Highway 30 between milepost 70 — near Westport — to milepost 94 — near Tongue Point.

Because the Department of Transportation is dealing with staffing and funding challenges, Weber said she would try to attach funding with the study.

Driver behavior

Bill Jablonski, the area manager for the Department of Transportation on the North Coast, said that the district, as well as the state, is seeing an “unsettling” increase in serious and fatal crashes.

Lt. Andy Hasenkamp, a commander for the Oregon State Police in Clatsop and Columbia counties, said that since 2016, crashes have been distributed fairly evenly across Highway 30, and there have been 17 recorded fatalities from crashes in that period.

Among all crashes in that time, Hasenkamp said, “too fast for conditions” was overwhelmingly cited as a contributing factor.

“Too fast for conditions” is often weather dependent, Hasenkamp said, and does not necessarily mean that the driver was over the posted speed limit.

“We’re seeing driver behavior is a big factor in a lot of these crashes and serious injuries as well,” Jablonski said.

Following Olson’s death, the Department of Transportation performed a preliminary speed analysis at the intersection in Knappa. Within the window when drivers were monitored, 85% of drivers were going 57 mph or slower.

The preliminary data, Jablonski said, was not enough to support a speed limit reduction at the intersection. But the department plans to do a formal analysis sometime next year.

According to an investigation into Olson’s death, Oregon State Police believe that excessive speed was not a contributing factor in the collision, and that lighting and traffic conditions may have played a part, Capt. Kyle Kennedy, a spokesperson for the Oregon State Police, said in an email.

“Our investigation leads us to believe the decision to cross the roadway was poorly timed and resulted in a collision,” Kennedy said.

Solutions in Knappa

During the meeting, Bangs, who represents Knappa, read off questions from constituents about the intersection and what solutions may be possible.

Jablonski explained that before making engineering fixes, the department needs to perform enough analysis in order to avoid “unintended consequences.”

“If we’re going to artificially reduce the speed to some amount less than 50 (mph), what we see is aggressive driving and even illegal passing within those areas,” he said.

A temporary speed feedback sign, with blue and red lights for drivers exceeding 50 mph, was implemented for eastbound drivers approaching the intersection in Knappa. Larger speed limit signs and a yellow flasher on the intersection sign for westbound drivers were also recently installed.

The Knappa Fire District is stationed near the intersection on Hillcrest Loop. Kurt Donaldson, the fire chief, said that the speed feedback board has seemed to help slow drivers down. The county may look to install a permanent one.

Bangs also asked about the potential for a flashing pedestrian crosswalk, also known as a rectangular rapid flashing beacon, like the one outside of Geno’s Pizza and Burgers on Marine Drive in Uppertown.

“Normally, we put those in areas where we have lower speeds already like in an urban area,” Jablonski responded. “ … We want to, again, (not) put an unintended consequence on an engineering fix where we have a high rate of travel going through a section that people will have to stop completely for a pedestrian.”

Improving lighting within the intersection was also discussed.

“There’s never harm in getting more lights at an intersection,” Donaldson said. “Ultimately, that might be the best thing. Our pedestrian (and motor vehicle crashes) at this intersection that we’re talking about are nighttime incidents — the ones we’ve responded to.”

While two quadrants of the intersection are lit, Jablonski said, the Department of Transportation is working with PacifiCorp to light the other two quadrants.

In regard to an increased law enforcement presence in the area, Hasenkamp said that the Oregon State Police is severely understaffed in Clatsop County.

“I think that’s the message that would be impactful on the road, if we had a law enforcement presence consistently,” he said.

Thompson, who is the incoming chairwoman of the North West Area Commission on Transportation, recommended that the local community look at forming a countywide traffic safety committee.

“That’s a way to impact both pedestrian and driver behavior and heighten awareness and change behavior proactively,” she said.