— FORT GIBSON — The Fort Gibson police chief is concerned the expanded casino being built at the intersection of Georgetown Road and U.S. 62 might increase traffic dramatically.

And, he has concerns that increased number of accidents or driving under the influence calls might put a strain on the town’s department of nine officers.

Chief Terry Johnston said he’s looked into installing a traffic light there, but the cost is prohibitive for the city — anywhere from $50,000 to $200,000 to install and thousands to maintain each year.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is aware of safety issues in the area, wrote Kenna Mitchell, ODOT spokeswoman, in an e-mail.

“We are currently studying about a four-mile stretch of U.S. 62 for safety improvements, which does include the area around Georgetown Road,” She said. “We have scheduled an intersection modification for the Oklahoma 10 junction, which could shift the alignment further to the west and incorporate into one interchange with Georgetown Road. Design work is underway, right-of-way and utility work is scheduled for FFY 2015 and could be let to construction in FFY 2017.”

Additionally, the Cherokee Nation is currently conducting an impact analysis as part of their expansion plans in the area, which includes a traffic study, she said.

They will share their results with ODOT once it is complete.

“Based on their findings, we will carefully evaluate if any additional safety measures are warranted at this time. It's too early to speculate on a possible traffic signal,” Mitchell wrote. “It is important to note that when signals are installed in a high-speed corridor they could potentially lead to increased accidents, as highway traffic does not typically come to a halt in a high-speed corridor. Again, that would be carefully evaluated, along with any other potential safety improvements if warranted.”

For example, the intersection of Lee Street and U.S. 62, where the city already has traffic signals, saw the same number of collisions in June, July and August as the Georgetown Road intersection.

Decreasing the speed limit won’t reduce accidents either, according to a study done by the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration.

But reducing the speed limit, which is 65 mph at that intersection, could reduce the number of serious injuries or fatalities.

Speed and accident data were collected in 22 States at 100 sites before and after speed limits were altered.

The results of the study indicated that lowering posted speed limits by 20 mph had little effect on motorists’ speed and little effect on the number of accidents.

But the reason it had little effect, the study found, is because drivers drove the speed they wanted to anyway and didn’t slow down even though the speed limit was reduced.

The majority of drivers only reduced their speed an average of 1.5 mph, not 20 mph, the report states.

However, the number of fatal accidents is reduced in an area where drivers are moving more slowly, the study found.

Reach Wendy Burton at (918) 684-2926 or wburton@muskogeephoenix.com.