Image: Oregon Department of Transportation##The design for a new roundabout at the intersection of Highways 99W and 18 near McDougall Road, which state transportation officials say will improve traffic flow and make the area safer for drivers.

McDougall Corner safety improvements to begin in '27

After years of discussions and planning, the Oregon Department of Transportation is scheduled to install a roundabout and other improvements at the intersection of Highways 99W and 18 — known locally as McDougall Corner.

ODOT has launched an online open house about the project at www.oregon.gov/odot/Projects/OOH/23457/Pages/Welcome.aspx. Feedback on the project can be submitted at the end of the town hall slides. One slide includes a frequently asked question section about roundabouts.

Construction is scheduled to begin next year and finish in 2028.

The online town hall describes safety as the primary reason for the work. There were seven fatal crashes between 2019 and 2023, and another two since December 2023, according to ODOT.

The intersection is listed in ODOT’s top 5% Safety Priority Index System based on 2023 data. The department uses SPIS to prioritize areas for safety improvements by flagging high-crash locations in the state for potential safety program projects.

The SPIS scores every 0.1-mile segment of Oregon state highways and local roads based on traffic volume and the number and severity of crashes. Every year, the traffic team reviews the top 10% of these state highway sites to determine which safety improvements can be done with the funding available. The amount of funding ODOT has available only covers about the top 5% of the SPIS sites.

Three other locations in the project area are in the 10% of the SPIS: both ends of Northeast McDougall Road and where Stoller Road meets Highway 99W.

Northeast McDougall Road has three intersections leading onto the state highway.

ODOT’s solution is a roundabout at the highway junction and to remove access to McDougall Road at its western terminus and where it meets Highway 99W.

Instead, drivers will either turn onto McDougall at Stoller Road, where turn lanes will be added, or on the east end, where access will be realigned and turn lanes added.

At the roundabout, near Waterdog RV Sales, the road will be widened, allowing for two lanes. The left lane will be the innermost lane, and the right lane will act as a right turn lane.

The work is being planned in stages to minimize delays and closures.

Each work zone in the project area will have varying levels of impact to traffic depending on specific work activities.

“Overall, you can plan for single lane closures, delays, noise and short-term detours,” ODOT officials announced. “Larger impacts to traffic can be expected during the planned closures of local roads and OR 18 during the roundabout construction.”

The project will begin with widening and paving the southside of 99W to create new lanes for traffic to use as the roundabout is under construction.

Road closures are expected throughout the improvements, and local traffic may need to use alternate routes when the section of Highway 18 is closed for about four days for construction.

The roundabout has been under discussion since a group of area residents met with ODOT officials in the fall of 2018 to complain that the Newberg-Dundee bypass had simply shifted traffic congestion out of Dundee and Newberg to the stretch of Highway 99W between Dundee and McDougall Corner.

In 2024, the county Parkway Committee criticized ODOT officials for moving too slowly on the project.