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ODOT making changes to avoid head-on crashes on Ronald Reagan Highway

Posted at 6:19 PM, Jun 19, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-19 19:07:10-04

CINCINNATI — The Ohio Department of Transportation is making changes to avoid head-on collisions along Ronald Reagan Highway.

The changes come after two crashes involving cars crossing the grassy median happened in less than a month — the latest happening the night of June 18.

RELATED: Fatal car crash shuts down Ronald Reagan highway for four hours

Rudy Rengers said he witnessed that Tuesday night collision.

"(The driver) steered hard left again and went directly across the median, went into oncoming traffic... missed one car and then a head-on collision with the gray car," he said. "They went all the way across and, well, someone lost their life. Not a good thing. Something should be put up to at least prevent a head-on collision."

That's what ODOT plans on doing. It plans to put up cable barriers along Ronald Reagan, between I-75 and I-275, to avoid crashes like this one.

"There was some observation by ODOT forces that saw there were people going off the road, there were crossovers, crash reports," said Brian Cunningham, the ODOT District 8 communications manager.

ODOT reports from 2014 through 2017 there were 369 crashes along the 9-mile stretch between I-275 and I-75.

They also say there have been 18 crossover crashes from 2012 through 2017.

"There's been a growing trend, and as the volume of traffic increases, subsequent problems come along with it. There's about 60,000 cars that go through there daily. That's a pretty high-end number," said Cunningham.

He says ODOT hopes the $1.7 million project will help to eliminate crashes.

"That's difficult because we deal with distracted driving, aggressive drivers, but with this we hope to reduce injuries associated with those types of crashes," Cunningham said.

He says the project is anticipated to start in the summer of 2020 and take about three months.