According to the Ohio Department of Public Safety, which keeps crash data on file for five years, data for the intersection revealed that 30 collisions, involving either one vehicle or multiple vehicles, took place there from Oct. 1, 2019–Oct. 31, 2024. (Photo: Google Maps)
Four-way stop coming to U.S. 68 and Hyde Road
- Published: August 27, 2025
The intersection of U.S. 68 and East Hyde Road is set to receive a safety upgrade soon: a four-way stop.
Once new stop signs are installed, vehicles approaching the intersection from any direction, whether traveling on U.S. 68 or Hyde Road, will be required to stop before entering the intersection.
The change comes after traffic officials at the Ohio Department of Transportation, or ODOT, weighed options for addressing what has long been considered one of the more hazardous intersections near Yellow Springs.
Via email last week, ODOT District 8 Traffic Studies Engineer Tom Mazza said that, within the last several months, the department completed traffic and safety analyses at 68 and Hyde; as the News reported earlier this year, crash numbers at the intersection spiked in 2023 and 2024.
“Based on our analysis, ODOT plans to move forward with converting the U.S. 68/Hyde Road intersection from two-way stop controlled to all-way stop controlled,” Mazza said, adding that the change will be made to the intersection within “one to three months.”
“We are formulating a timeline and need to order traffic signs,” he said
The intersection at 68 and Hyde currently employs two stop signs posted for drivers east- and west-bound on Hyde Road, and overhead flashing LED lights warning drivers on both roads. ODOT studied two alternatives to the current setup — a four-way stop and a single-lane roundabout — and, according to Mazza, found both would “operate at an acceptable level of service and provide a similar safety benefit.”
A four-way stop is a lower-cost, quicker-to-implement solution than a roundabout, which can take three to four years to plan, design and construct. Mazza said the four-way stop conversion can be completed by ODOT in-house without a formal funding application; a roundabout, on the other hand, would require District 8 to apply for funds from the Highway Safety Improvement Program.
As the News reported earlier this year, the intersection has been the site of a significant number of crashes in recent years. From Nov. 1, 2022, to Oct. 31, 2024, there were 19 multivehicle collisions caused by drivers failing to yield on Hyde Road — more than double the total recorded in the previous three years.
A five-year review, from Oct. 1, 2019, through Oct. 31, 2024, shows 30 total collisions at the intersection. Of those, 27 were caused by a vehicle traveling on Hyde Road failing to yield at either the eastbound or westbound stop signs. Most of the crashes — 22 — resulted in property damage only, while the remaining eight involved reported or suspected injuries.
Mazza said the uptick in crashes at 68 and Hyde in 2024 could, in part, be tied to ODOT’s construction of a roundabout at U.S. 68 and State Route 235, which temporarily funneled more traffic onto Hyde Road.
“The high crash numbers in 2024 are likely directly related to ODOT’s construction project at the U.S. 68/SR 235 intersection,” Mazza said. “The detour for that project likely increased the volume of traffic on Hyde Road, leading to an increase in crashes.”
He added that there has been only one reported crash at 68 and Hyde in 2025 thus far.
As Mazza told the News earlier this year, a traffic signal remains unlikely at 68 and Hyde, as ODOT evaluates signals based on traffic volume rather than crash frequency. Mazza previously told the News: “It’s a pretty significant volume of traffic that’s required. I think the total traffic volume on Hyde Road throughout the day is not [150 vehicles], so it would be hard to meet these volumes.”
At present, the speed limit on U.S. 68 increases from 35 to 45 miles per hour traveling south toward Xenia, and decreases from 55 to 45 traveling north approaching the intersection.
Mazza said that ODOT has no current plans to lower the speed limit on 68, though he added that the agency intends to monitor the intersection for the next few years.
“Additional changes may be warranted if crash trends continue,” he said.
The News will update readers as ODOT finalizes its timeline.
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