Philomath Police, joined by officers from Corvallis and deputies from the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, stopped 24 drivers on Main Street during a crosswalk enforcement operation Wednesday. From those who were pulled over, 13 were issued citations.
The joint operation in Corvallis and Philomath resulted in 53 traffic stops overall. For both cities combined, 29 drivers were cited and 24 received warnings. In all, officers and deputies wrote 30 violations, 26 of which were for failing to stop for a pedestrian.
Philomath Police Chief Dave Gurski said the day started with a briefing in Corvallis at about 8 a.m. Officers first worked a couple of intersections off Northwest Harrison Boulevard in Corvallis before moving to Philomath.
“I believe it was around 10:30 or so, they shifted and came over to Philomath and started working on crosswalk things on Main Street near 14th Street,” Gurski said.
Philomath Sgt. Blake Bowers and Ofc. Jacob Coon took part.
Gurski explained how the operation worked.
“You have a couple of different officers that are in plain clothes,” he said. “They do have body cameras on to capture what’s happening from their perspective, and then you’ll have another person that has a police radio, an officer that is calling out vehicles that were in violation, and then you have a number of police officers that are kind of staged and set up to go stop those vehicles that were in violation.”
The crosswalk near 14th Street includes Chevron on the south side with Philomath Market, Figaro’s Pizza and La Rockita on the north side.
“It was a pretty good level of saturation,” Gurski said.
Drivers did have advance notice of the operation. The Philomath Police Department posted an announcement on social media beforehand, and signs were posted in the days leading up to it.
In its announcement, the department said the goal was to improve safety and community livability through education and enforcement of crosswalk laws. The post cited state figures showing 752 pedestrians were injured and 97 were killed in traffic crashes in Oregon in 2024.
No additional crosswalk operations are scheduled for now, but Gurski said the Benton County Regional Traffic Team is planning an event. That effort is expected to expand into schools with educational outreach and possibly guest speakers.
“I haven’t heard the details on that, but that’s still going to be ongoing,” Gurski said. “So we’ll have more on that coming up here in the next month or two.”
The department’s announcement also included reminders for drivers, including to slow down and be prepared to stop when turning or entering a crosswalk, to stop well back from a crosswalk so other drivers can see crossing pedestrians and to never pass a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk. Pedestrians were encouraged to use sidewalks when available, cross at crosswalks or intersections and watch for vehicles turning or entering and exiting driveways.
