Nearly 16 accidents have occurred in the last five years at the intersection of Eighth and Main streets in Black River Falls, and it is prompting the public safety commission to look into some safer options for motorists.

Richard Tumaniec, project manager with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, was present at the safety committee’s Sept. 17 meeting to help answer questions for the public and the committee. Tumaniec said that out of the 16 crashes, nearly half resulted in injuries.

The problem, according to Black River Falls Police Chief Don Gilberg, is when a vehicle is attempting to make a left turn onto Eighth Street from either direction off Main Street, other vehicles are allowed to pass on the right. This creates a problem if a vehicle is also attempting to turn left from the opposite direction because it often cannot see the vehicle that is passing on the right.

Gilberg said he thinks it is one of the most dangerous intersections in Black River Falls.

“People turn left in front of the cars and we have had several serious accidents,” Gilberg said. “From a police department standpoint, this is a significant issue.”

Tumaniec said previous estimates indicate nearly 9,000 cars travel through the intersection on Main Street in a day and another 2,700 travel on Eighth Street. He recommended to the commission that the city conduct a 12-hour traffic count to see what the best course of action would be to increase the safety of the intersection and reduce accidents.

Depending on what the traffic count revealed, a traffic signal could be needed at the intersection.

Tumaniec said the commission has other options, too. One option is to realign the stretch of road to put in a shared center turn lane and reduce through-traffic to one lane each way.

Commission member Randy Eddy said the lane reduction could cause slightly more congestion, “but a three-lane section could slow people down.”

However, Fire Chief Steve Schreiber said a shared turn lane concerned him, considering the size of emergency vehicles that use the route and how they could still block the view of motorists attempting to turn.

“I’m not sure a turn lane is going to be the answer when it comes to emergency vehicles,” he said.

The ultimate decision would be at the city council’s discretion. In the mean time, Tumaniec recommended the city do a 12-hour traffic count to determine what exactly is needed at the intersection.