Transportation committee recommends longer-median signal (Alternative 1F) for Sawyer Street–Oshkosh Avenue intersection

The Oshkosh City Transportation Committee on Jan. 14 recommended Alternative 1F — a reconstructed four-legged signal with an extended median that would restrict some left-turn movements — to reconfigure the long-studied Sawyer Street and Oshkosh Avenue intersection.

The recommendation followed a presentation from Kyle Henderson with Strand Associates, the city’s consultant on the project, and passed on a committee motion moved by Committee member Eslinger and seconded by Committee member Armstrong; the roll call recorded Armstrong, Merritt, Hartman, Eslinger and Lynch voting “aye.” The committee recorded no opposing votes and the motion carried.

The committee said the change matters because the junction is nonstandard and has a history of collisions and operational problems. Henderson said the consultant team identified 35 crashes at the intersection from 2019 through 2023, 19 of which were rear-end collisions. He pointed to the yield-controlled northbound right-turn movement and eastbound approaches as concentrated locations for rear-enders, and noted queuing related to the nearby Fox River lift bridge as a complicating factor. “Yield…