COLUMBUS – The most dangerous intersections in Columbus over the past two years have mostly been on the East Side where road and intersection improvements are planned but not completed, according to a report from the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.
See map of all 100 high-crash intersections
Heading up the list of MORPC’s Top 100 Regional High-Crash Intersections list for the years 2013 through 2015 is E. Broad Street and James Road, where the agency recorded 172 accidents during the reporting period, including one fatality.
“These annual high-crash location lists allow us to monitor where most crashes occur and where people get hurt so we can work with our local and state partners in identifying engineering, educational, and enforcement measures that can reduce crashes,” said Kerstin Carr, director of planning and environment for the multi-jurisdictional agency that carries out planning for economic development, energy use, transportation and in other areas.
The agency’s report details many safety improvements that have been made to the intersections and more which are still in the planning stages or scheduled to begin in the next year.
Nine of the top 10 intersections on the list are located east of I-71 and north of I-70.
The intersections are ranked based on a formula that considers number of crashes, traffic volume and severity, which is why the Cleveland Avenue/Morse Road intersection where more accidents (268) happened more frequently and resulted in more fatalities (2) but which was only No. 4 on the list.
MORPC’s Top 10 High-Crash intersections (2013-2015)
1. Broad Street/SR 16 @ James Road
2. E Livingston Avenue @ Hamilton Road/SR 317
3. Dublin Granville Road/SR 161 @ Maple Canyon Drive
4. Cleveland Avenue @ Morse Road
5. Broad St. @ Lancaster Ave/Reynoldsburg-New Albany Rd
6. Oakland Park Avenue @ Westerville Road/SR 3
7. Morse Road @ Northtowne Blvd/Walford Street
8. Cleveland Avenue @ Innis Road
9. Cleveland Avenue @ Dublin Granville Road/SR 161
10. Hilliard Rome Road @ Roberts Road
See complete list here.
E. Livingston Avenue and Hamilton Road, SR 161 and Maple Canyon Drive, Cleveland and Morse and E. Broad Street at Lancaster Avenue/Reynoldsburg-New Albany Road rounded out the top five.
The report said the most common cause of accidents on central Ohio roadways was drivers following too closely.
The report also noted that alcohol-involved crashes increased between 2011 and 2015 and accounted for 34 percent of all fatal crashes.