MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Three wooden crosses now sit at the intersection of Duncannon Lane and the entrance to Buc-ee’s in Richmond. That intersection has been the site of three fatal crashes in the span of eight months.
Steven Wason, who lives in Berea, says he tries to avoid that area of Duncannon Lane.
“I used to go through it a lot more until my dad's wreck. Now I try not to go by there,” he said. “If I go by there, I'm usually just going to visit out there because I just like spending time where, you know, where he landed.”
Steven’s dad, William Wason, loved riding his motorcycle.
“He just loved to ride and he'd give the grandkids rides around the neighborhood and stuff,” Steven shared.
William was on his bike – returning from a funeral – when he was hit and killed at the intersection. Steven described it as a nightmare.
That fatal crash happened on August 27, 2025. In the months since, two more people have been killed in crashes at the same intersection. A Michigan mother, 51-year-old Katee Chimpoutas, was killed on Feb. 25. On April 18, 35-year-old Scott Turner from Somerset was killed in a crash at that intersection as well.
“It's just like ripping off a scab, knowing that another family is going to have to go through the exact same thing that we just went through,” Steven said.
He wanted to put a cross at the intersection after his dad was killed, but felt they were too expensive at the time. After the most recent fatal crash, Steven decided he would make the cross himself. In fact, he made three, one for each victim, and placed them at the intersection.
The crosses are a little bigger than Steven expected. He hopes they bring attention – and caution – to the intersection.
“If I'm someplace new and I see white crosses, I immediately slow down, use extra caution,” Steven shared. “That's my goal with these is that people will see them and just slow down.”
Since Steven put those three crosses up, he’s had a few other requests to make crosses. He said he’s happy to oblige.
“It brings me some peace and I think about my dad when I'm doing them. My dad was the type of person that would, I could see him doing something like this.”
Meanwhile, Steven hopes to see changes on Duncannon Lane that would hopefully slow people down and lead to safer driving through what’s become a dangerous intersection.
“I think that one thing that they should look at is like when you're turning left from coming down Duncannon to go into Buc-ee’s, I think it should be a green arrow turn only,” he said. “A flashing yellow there, just, it's too unsafe.”
Steven is also pushing for a lower speed limit at the overpass.
