3 major crashes in 3 years: Salem residents call for changes at deadly spot on Liberty Road
After three major crashes in as many years, residents living near the intersection of Liberty Road S and Mildred Lane SE in South Salem are calling on the city to take immediate action before someone else is killed.
The intersection, which rests just inside city limits, is surrounded by growing neighborhoods and hills, which often obscure cross traffic.
Erica Puopolo lives near the intersection and said she has heardthe screech of car tires and thundering crunch of crashes at the intersection too many times.
She and her husband heard the crash on Aug. 7, 2020, that killed 17-year-old Sara Schumann. Schumann was leaving her neighborhood on a date when the driver of the Subaru Impreza she was riding in ran the stop sign and collided with an oncoming vehicle.
The force of the crash sent the Subaru rolling and crashing into a neighbor's backyard fence. Schumann, who lived with her family only a few minutes away, died at the scene.
Schumann's loved ones built a memorial at the base of the fence the Subaru knocked down.
The driver, Tristan Goodwin, 20, admitted to speeding and running the stop sign posted at Mildred Lane. He is currently serving a three-year sentence in prison for criminally negligent homicide.
Schumann's father has filed a $2.8 million wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Salem, alleging it contributed to Sara's death by failing to post proper street signs and street lighting.
Full story:Father of teen killed in car crash while on date sues Salem for $2.8M
In their legal response to the lawsuit, city attorneys denied Schumann's death was caused by actions by the city. They pointed to police reports that said Goodwin told police he chose to ignore the stop sign and didn't see any headlights on Liberty Road when he turned.
But that wasn't the only crash at this intersection. And neighbors worry increasing traffic as more homes are built in the area will only make things worse.
Not the last crash
Residents said the intersection is an accident waiting to happen.
The area is undergoing a wave in residential building and development. New neighborhoods dot the area. A 66-unit apartment complex and 45-unit housing development under construction on the northwest corner mean even more people will soon be on the neighboring roads.
Drivers regularly zoom by well above the posted speed limit of 45 mph on Liberty and 35 mph on Mildred. The curve of Liberty Road means it isn't always easy to see oncoming traffic when stopped on Mildred, especially at night.
Just over a year after the crash that killed Schumann, Puopolo was in her living room when she saw flashing lights at the intersection again. A sinking feeling hit the pit of her stomach that she couldn't shake off. Her brother was due to be driving home around that time, but he wasn't home. She told her husband they needed to check on the crash.
"We ran down there and I saw his car, completely demolished," Puopolo said. "He had been hit by someone in a nearly identical accident to Sara's the year before."
For severalseconds, she thought her brother was dead. But the first responders helped her find him. He was able to stand and hug her before being taken to the hospital.
The eerie feeling of seeing the crash scene and the same broken fence next to Schumann's memorial was overwhelming, Puopolo said.
Her family picks up litter near the intersection through the adopt-a-street program. She still finds fragments of her brother's car.
"I couldn't sleep for weeks, and still replay that night in my head, running down there and seeing his car," she said.
Frustrating push for change
Puopolo vowed to get the city to act.
But instead, she said, she has faced indifference and inaction.
She said city officials told her the current set-up — the speed limit and stop sign — followed all the recommended guidelines and the city couldn't just install stop lights or flashing lights wherever it wanted to.
The fact that one person died, her brother was in a serious accident and more could die in the future didn't seem to matter, Puopolo said.
Read more: What's that being built on Liberty Road in South Salem?
She said she was told a traffic light is planned for the intersection but is tied to the new development and could be years away.
City officials confirmed that plans for a traffic signal at Liberty and Mildred are in the works as part of the land-use decision for the 66-unit apartment complex and 45-unit housing development at 5871 Liberty Road South.
The timeline for the installation of the traffic signal will be determined by future construction at the complex, city public works spokesman Trevor Smith said.
Phase 1 of the development will include a traffic signal at Liberty and Davis. Phase 2 will include a design of the Liberty/Mildred signal, and Phase 3 will include the construction of the Liberty/Mildred signal.
Grading work is still being done on the development, and construction has not yet begun.
'Somebody died in our backyard'
As the wait for a stoplight continues, crashes continue to happen.
In late August, another crash sent a vehicle careening through the fence of Vanessa Castillo's backyard at that same intersection.
It was the third time since moving to the neighborhood two and a half years ago that a crash destroyed their fence.
The fatal 2020 crash, the crash involving Puopolo's brother and the crash this year all took out a section of Castillo's fence.
"This is our first home," she said. "The first year we were living here, somebody died in our backyard. It's scary."
Last year, her husband was home and about to take their two dogs out when a car crashed through their fence and caught fire.
Every crash leaves them reeling, feeling unsafe and unable to let their dogs out while waiting to fix their fence yet again. Castillo said they think about putting in a fire pit or spending more time in their backyard but they're always worried about the next crash.
"You'd think that after the first (crash) there ought to be a stoplight," she said.
'Just waiting for the next crash'
A photo of the most recent crash drew a flood of comments on the online NextDoor neighborhood group page.
There are 67 comments posted about the dangers of the intersection.
“Another accident at Mildred and Liberty – hope everyone is ok – person on the corner will have to replace their fence AGAIN!" one person wrote.
A commenter asked: “How many more people have to die/or are injured before they come up with a solution?”
Some believe a traffic light is needed; others suggested a flashing yellow light, a roundabout or lowering the speed limit.
Smith said the city uses criteria outlined in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for adding traffic signals at intersections. Nationally, traffic control managers use the manual to determine when traffic control devices are needed.
"When a traffic study shows the need for a signal in an existing neighborhood or business district, the city includes a signal in its budget," he added. "As land use developments occur and more people move to an area, it is the City of Salem’s practice to require that developers include the design and construction of any needed signal — or other traffic control measures — in their development plans."
Per the manual, traffic volumes and crashes are some of the conditions used to determine if a signal should be installed. Smith said a traffic control would be considered if an engineering study found:
An adequate trial of alternatives with satisfactory observance and enforcement has failed to reduce the crash frequency.
Five or more reported crashes, of types susceptible to correction by a traffic control signal, have occurred within a 12-month period, with each crash involving personal injury or property damage apparently exceeding the applicable requirements for a reportable crash.
Traffic volumes meet certain thresholds.
"The city works to fund traffic signals when they are necessitated because other traffic control measures are not working, traffic volumes or crash data show the need," Smith said. "Traffic signals are expensive and cost at least $500,000, depending on whether other infrastructure — electricity, concrete, etc. — is needed for the signal in an area."
Current crash records show two crashes at the intersection in 2020 and two crashes in 2021.
Puopolo said she's lived in Salem her whole life and has seen how the area around Liberty has grown. To be told that the intersection is up to code when someone died and accidents are still happening is dismaying, she said.
With big dollar developments going in, she said she thinks the city can pay the $500,000 a signal is estimated to cost to prevent further deaths and crashes.
"It's very upsetting," she said. "My stomach drops just waiting for the next crash. The vast majority of my family lives around Liberty. I don't want anyone driving on that road or through that intersection. It's not like someone got rear-ended. They're serious accidents. It's life and death."
Reporter Whitney Woodworth covers city hall, economic development and business for the Statesman Journal. For questions, comments and news tips, email wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Residents call for changes to deadly South Salem intersection
