By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
One of Yukon’s busiest intersections temporarily because a “four-way stop” after a signal light pole was knocked down in a crash.
A one-vehicle traffic collision occurred about 8:15 p.m. Aug. 2 at Garth Brooks Boulevard and W Vandament after the driver “blacked out” and “lost control” of his vehicle, according to a Yukon police report.
In a traffic alert from the Yukon Police Department, Yukon residents were notified the intersection would be a four-way stop for vehicles due to the street pole being “knocked to the ground”.
“Please use caution and follow the posted traffic signs for this area,” YPD officials advised motorists.
Sgt. Chase Kovarik investigated the Aug. 2nd crash in which a 2017 Dodge passenger van struck the signal light pole on the northeast corner of the intersection.
Kovarik determined the incident was caused by a “medical episode,” according to the traffic collision report.
The driver, a 40-year-old Oklahoma City man, was headed southbound on Garth Brooks Boulevard.
He told the officer he remembered passing the Yukon Middle School but then blacked out.
“He said he could hear all the noises from the accident, and he could feel himself being tossed around in the vehicle,” Sgt. Kovarik wrote in the report. “He said he ‘came back to’ and at first did not realize he had been in an accident.”
Witnesses told the Yukon officer there were no other vehicles around the Dodge van when it started to cross into oncoming lanes.
The vehicle appeared to have been traveling about 70-80 miles per hour before impacting the curb, traffic signal pole and crosswalk light pole, the police report indicates.
The speed limit is 35 mph along that section of four-lane road.
The van’s front airbags had deployed.
The driver sustained a leg injury and was taken by a Pafford EMS ambulance for treatment, according to the traffic collision report.
The disabled vehicle was removed by a Lane’s Towing wrecker.
‘TEMPORARY’ REPAIRS
A wooden pole with temporary signal lights was due to be placed early this week at the Garth Brooks Boulevard/Vandament intersection.
“Our goal is to get that up and running, definitely before school starts,” Yukon Public Works Director Arnold Adams said.
This Thursday, Aug. 11 is the first day of the 2022-23 school year.
It will cost the City of Yukon an estimated $60,000 to replace the damaged signal light pole.
“The delivery date on our new (metal) pole is 10 to 12 weeks out,” Adams shared.
Yukon Public Works crews last Friday removed debris left from the Aug. 2nd accident so the sidewalk could reopen.