The intersection is less than a half mile from Dave Engle’s home.

He’s traveled the route from South Ebey Road across State Highway 20 to get to the Living Hope Foursquare Church on Broadway Avenue so many times over the years that the trips are mostly a blur in his memory.

But Engle will never forget one trip he made in January.

Engle said it was a gray morning. He reached the stop sign near the highway, looked to his left, then right, then drove his sedan straight across the highway bound for the church on the other side.

“I was going over there to work on a message for a funeral,” said Engle, the church’s associate pastor.

“Oh dear.”

Oh dear, was right.

Engle didn’t see a gray sports utility vehicle traveling northbound on Highway 20.

But he felt the jolt of the T-bone collision that cracked one of his ribs and sent him to the hospital.

“There was a car down at the light at the overpass,” Engle said, referring to the four-way stop and street light at Main Street, south of his accident. “I saw them. But my mind did not register that there was a car closer.”

Engle and the other driver, who both walked away from the accident, joined a long list of drivers who’ve met misfortune at the intersection of Broadway Avenue and Highway 20.

According to emergency response records in Island County, 31 accidents have occurred in the last five years at that intersection.

There have been five collisions so far this year. Two accidents over the years have resulted in fatalities.

According to news reports, Toni Chapman, 61, was killed at the intersection while trying to cross as a pedestrian in November 2011. Chapman’s accident was reported as the fourth major accident at that intersection in 2011.

Everett Coffman was also killed in the same location in February 2010.

In response to community concerns, the Coupeville Town Council is reaching out to the state Department of Transportation in an attempt to further address the perpetual problem area.

The Council last month approved a letter asking the WSDOT to review and consider modifications to the intersection at Broadway and Highway 20.

“There’s been a lot of citizen comments on the safety of that intersection,” Mayor Molly Hughes said. “Every time there’s an accident, people get up in arms about it.

“That’s why I had the police look into it for me, I wanted to know.”

Hughes prepared a draft letter and presented it to council for consideration.

“In 2012, WSDOT lowered the speed from 55 to 45 mph and installed flashing speed limit signs on the approach to this intersection,” Hughes wrote in the letter. “This significantly lowered the number of accidents, however, this remains an unsafe intersection to cross and to make left hand turns from SR 20.

“We wonder if the addition or a street light, rumble strips and/or left hand turn lanes could further improve the safety of this intersection.”

In the letter, Hughes asked the state to consider further safety improvements to the intersection as soon as possible.

Council member Pat Powell said she lives just down Broadway Street from the highway and can hear the impact of collisions.

“I really appreciate you doing this,” Powell told Hughes. “I was going to bring this up.”

Prompting the reduction in speed, two pedestrians were killed while trying to cross the highway at that intersection in 2010 and 2011.

Yet, the site remains the busiest intersection for trauma responses, according to Capt. Jerry Helm of Central Whidbey Fire & Rescue.

“It’s a fairly common place for us to respond to vehicle crashes,” Central Whidbey Fire Chief Ed Hartin said.

“It is kind of a puzzle in a way because it’s a straight highway. The intersection, I think, has pretty good lines of sight.”

He said it’s possible in some cases that drivers are lacking attention or are misjudging the closure speed of other vehicles.

Nevertheless, statistics point to more serious accidents happening at that intersection than any other in Coupeville.

“I know some people feel strongly that there should be a light there,” Engle said. “Other people say, ‘We’re not Oak Harbor.’ There have been enough accidents there to warrant something being done.”

Council member Lisa Bernhardt also lives on Broadway. She agrees that a change is needed.

“We have a family rule,” she said. “We just don’t go that way.”