MILTON-FREEWATER — Two days after Andrea Garcia moved to Locher Road in Milton-Freewater, she said a truck overturned into a ditch by her property. A few months later, another car missed the same stop sign and crashed through her fence. A few weeks ago, another car crash-landed by Garcia’s front door.

Garcia, along with other residents who live on the same stretch of road, said they have witnessed multiple accidents in the intersection of Stateline and Locher roads. Residents attribute the crashes to dense fog, a 50 mph speed limit leading to the stop sign and generally poor visibility that causes cars to miss the stop sign altogether.

“I’m done with everyone going through my yard, through my fence,” Garcia said. “My kids and I sit there and every night, we watch one, two, three cars miss that stop sign.”

In response to the accidents, Garcia started a petition asking the county to place a blinking stop sign or a bubble strip, and to reduce the speed limit from 50 mph down to 40. The petition has garnered 40 signatures from neighboring residents thus far.

Garcia said she has also taken her own precautions, such as placing large rocks and a white vinyl fence along her property to help with visibility. However, she said it has not been effective in preventing property damage.

“(The county) is not hearing us,” she said. “As soon as someone kills somebody in that intersection, then they’ll do something about it.”

According to a state of Washington traffic collision report, there have been two reported accidents in 2020 and none in 2019. Tony Garcia, public works director and engineer for Walla Walla County, said that does not necessarily mean there haven’t been more accidents, but it may indicate that accidents go unreported.

“A lot of times what may happen, which is unfortunate for me as I’m trying to rank the projects, if the residents are seeing an accident there, but it’s not officially reported because of whatever circumstances, we don’t know about it,” he said.

Amy Hill, another Locher Road resident, said she feels the road is “really unsafe” and has witnessed multiple accidents.

Several residents have tried to contact the county but since the property resides on the border of Washington and Oregon, they said they’ve had trouble figuring out which county has jurisdiction over that road.

Tony said he has not been previewed of any complaints about this specific intersection under his directorship, but was made aware recently through the Facebook petition. He has not officially said no to any requests, but said there are multiple facets to consider.

“We have to make sure everything is warranted,” he said. “People sometimes think that putting a signal at an intersection will automatically make it safer. Sometimes if it is unwarranted, it would actually make it more unsafe.”

According to Tony Garcia, currently at the intersection there’s a sign that says “Stop Ahead, 500 feet,” and reflective tape on the stop sign. There’s also a double arrow indicating the Stateline Road turn.

“As far as all of that goes, it seems good,” he said. “So why are accidents happening? There are other issues potentially going on.”

He plans to send road engineers to further investigate, but noted speeding past the speed limit, drunken driving and lack of speed enforcement as potential reasons.

Rhonda Chapman, an 18-year resident of the area, said the intersection is problematic and has seen many accidents over the years. Chapman said the counties need to work together in order to figure out what to do with the intersection.

There’s a memorandum of understanding between Walla Walla County and Umatilla County that divides that section of road, according to Umatilla County Commissioner John Shafer. The agreement was signed on April 6, 1955, and states that everything on Stateline Road west of the old Milton-Freewater highway is maintained by Walla Walla County, which includes the intersection on Locher Road.

He agreed no action has been taken on the part of Umatilla County because it’s not in Umatilla County’s jurisdiction.

As for next steps, Tony Garcia said residents could petition the county commissioners, who will ask for his recommendation prior to putting any changes up for a vote.

He also noted budget as a factor to take into consideration before implementing any of the requests.

“It all comes down to budget and what we have planned,” he said. “If it’s an unbudgeted item, we have to really justify it.”

He said he is planning to send road engineers to the intersection and add the recent accidents to rerank it in regards to road safety. If it yields a higher ranking, then they will potentially look at funding sources.

For a blinking stop light, it’ll take approximately $50,000 in installation costs, which includes a road analysis and an engineering study.