ODOT Plans Roundabout for Dangerous Highway 22 Intersection Work Follows Perrydale Road realignment, completion targeted for late 2027
By Dan Shryock, The West Side Newspaper
Highway 22, a popular route from Salem to the Oregon Coast, will be slowing down beginning in 2027, if only for a moment.
A traffic roundabout will be built next year at the Kings Valley Highway junction three miles west of Rickreall, and it is intended to slow speeds and improve safety at the intersection. Kings Valley Highway is a key connector between the highway and the city of Dallas.
“We're building a roundabout because the intersection has experienced a higher-than-expected number of serious crashes,” said Mindy McCartt, a public information officer with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). “Since 2007, the intersection has averaged about one serious injury crash each year.”
The accident rate at the intersection between 2015-2024 was about twice the critical rate for this type of intersection, McCartt said. It has also consistently ranked in the top five percent of Oregon’s most dangerous intersections, according to ODOT's Safety Priority Index System that targets safety hotspots.
Work on the Kings Valley Highway roundabout is expected to begin next year with project completion expected by November 2027.
The roundabout will be built as the second phase of an ODOT project in that area. Road realignment on Perrydale Road, one mile west of Kings Valley Highway, began in June and is expected to be open for traffic by October.
“Crews are straightening the roadway south of the highway to improve sight distance for drivers entering or crossing OR 22,” McCartt said.
Improvements at both intersections are considered high priorities because, according to ODOT statistics, each poses a threat to younger and older drivers. About half of the fatal and serious injury crashes at the Kings Valley Highway intersection as well as six of the eight fatal or serious injury crashes at Perrydale Road involved those two groups. The Perrydale upgrades were specifically designed to eliminate bad sightlines that challenge older drivers.
“Straightening the roadway improves sight distance and simplifies the driving task,” she said.
Once road workers complete work on Perrydale Road, the focus shifts to Highway 22 for a circular traffic flow solution similar to what was added in June 2025 along Highway 99W at Clow Corner Road between Rickreall and Monmouth. Safety issues were similar in both locations.
“That intersection also had a history of angle and turning crashes resulting in serious injuries and fatalities,” she said. Research has shown that converting an intersection from stop signs to a roundabout can “substantially reduce crash severity by reducing conflict points and slowing vehicle speeds.”
These are not the only new roundabouts planned in the area. Another project is targeted at the junction of Highways 99W and 18 near Dayton in Yamhill County.
“ODOT evaluates every intersection individually. Roundabouts are one of several proven safety tools considered during project development,” McCartt said. “We evaluate factors such as crash history, traffic volumes, roadway geometry, operational needs, and long-term maintenance when determining the most appropriate intersection treatment.”
And while roundabouts have been used in several recent projects because they best addressed the identified safety issues, they are not the right solution for every location, she said.
“The primary goal is to improve safety while maintaining efficient traffic flow along this important corridor between the Willamette Valley and the Oregon Coast,” she said. “Roundabouts naturally reduce vehicle speeds as drivers approach and enter the intersection, which greatly reduces the likelihood of severe crashes while allowing traffic to continue moving more efficiently than a traditional stop-controlled intersection.”
Similarly, roundabouts reduce the number of conflict points, force drivers to travel at slower speeds and eliminate high-speed crossing traffic.
In addition to the roundabout, about a mile of roadway between the Perrydale and Kings Valley intersections will be resurfaced, and new signs will be installed.
Work is also tentatively planned for Dyck and Smithfield roads, two gravel surfaces that connect Perrydale Road and King Valley Highway. That project is part of the ODOT’s long-term vision for improving safety and operations along the Highway 22 corridor, McCartt said. The state agency continues to work with Polk County to find money for that phase of the project.