Local News

<< Previous   of   Next >> Dan Bates / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Marilyn Webber, who lives off Highway 9, is among a group of people protesting the elimination of a left turn from northbound Highway 9 to westbound S. Lake Stevens Road. Webber, shown Friday, says the change is an inconvience and a safety issue.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Saturday, November 14, 2009 Lake Stevens neighbors protest loss of left turn off Highway 9 By Bill Sheets Herald Writer LAKE STEVENS — The project to widen parts of Highway 9 and 20th Street SE is intended to ease traffic flow through the area, but some who live nearby aren’t happy about it. The makeover of the intersection and the area surrounding it eliminates a left turn from northbound Highway 9 to westbound S. Lake Stevens Road. That’s where Marilyn Webber lives, just off the highway. When the project is done next summer, she will have to turn left at 32nd Street SE. This is about three-quarters of a mile south of her street, and she’ll have to go nearly a mile out of her way to get home. The turn was eliminated for safety reasons, a state official said. The Highway 9 portion of the project was designed by the state Department of Transportation. Webber said 360 people who live in the area have signed a petition in protest. The state, in addition to prohibiting the left turn from Highway 9 onto S. Lake Stevens Road, had originally planned to eliminate a left turn from S. Lake Stevens Road onto northbound Highway 9. Officials have since withdrawn that plan. The petition calls for both turns to remain. Snohomish County is widening 20th Avenue SE from two lanes to five between 91st Avenue SE and S. Lake Stevens Road at the Tom Thumb grocery. S. Lake Stevens Road runs northeast-southwest and intersects with both 20th and Highway 9. From S. Lake Stevens Road to a short distance north of 20th, the state is widening Highway 9 from two lanes to five, including turn lanes. Together, the projects cost $22.4 million. Webber, who said she has lived in her home for more than 50 years, said turning left off Highway 9 at 32nd is not as safe as turning at S. Lake Stevens Road. The oncoming vehicles are moving faster there because they’re farther from the light at 20th, she said, and they’re harder to see because they’re coming up a slight incline. “There’s no way they can make that as safe as our intersection to make the left turn,” she said. The left turn was eliminated because Highway 9 southbound is being widened to two lanes, with one being a right turn lane onto S. Lake Stevens Road, said Mike Swires, a traffic engineer for the state. Anyone turning left there would have to go across two lanes of traffic, he said. Webber said there’s always been a right turn lane there. “We’re turning across two lanes of traffic now, I don’t know what the difference is,” she said. Swires said the new lane will be wider than the current configuration. The state’s portion is part of a long-range plan to improve Highway 9 all the way from the King-Snohomish County line to Arlington. Highway 9 south of the intersection eventually will be widened as well, when money becomes available, he said. Swires said there’s no data to support the contention that the turn at 32nd is more dangerous. “We don’t have any left-turn-related collisions at either intersection,” he said. There’s more, Webber said. To get home after turning on 32nd, she must navigate a blind, 90-degree turn on a tight road. She and her husband keep horses on their property. Some of her neighbors do as well, she said. “If you’re in a pickup pulling a horse trailer, you can’t go around that 90-degree corner,” she said. “If you expect us to give up that left-turn lane, at the minimum the county needs to do something about 32nd.” County engineer Owen Carter said he would have a safety inspector look at the road. Swires said the state changed its mind about eliminating the left turn from S. Lake Stevens road onto Highway 9 because of the concerns of the neighbors. “We heard from the community about the inconvenience,” he said. Webber said she’s glad the state brought back that turn. Still, she and others plan to keep pressing the state to bring back the other one as well. Swires said it’s not happening. “We are trying to balance driving inconvenience with improved safety benefits along the corridor,” he said. Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439, sheets@heraldnet.com. READER COMMENTS Log in or register to post new comment | Log out (No heading) This no left turn is only temporary...get a grip...it's called learning to adapt. When I need to get to Snohomish, I turn LEFT at the Tom Thumb and head past Glenwood to Bunk Foss, which connects right up to highway 9. You can also connect to highway 9 from the west by turning LEFT on 91st street and heading down toward the business district. Yes, it's a bit of an incovenience, but the situation is ONLY TEMPORARY ! I've lived in the same area for 9 years and we've seen nothing but road construction, you learn to adapt and overcome, quit whining about being inconvenienced...wahhhhhhhhhhhh CC At the Big B | Nov 14, 2009 8:52 am | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Seriously? One mile of extra driving? Is she serious? More importantly, The Herald saw fit to print this useless story. Bill Smith | Nov 15, 2009 6:46 am | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Not Surprised... I am not surprised that the DOT again made a decision based on what THEY think is best, rather than considering input from the community. Just look at what they did at the bottom of SR 204 at Sunnyside and 10th St. Would it have not made better sense to put a signal at 10th and close Sunnyside at SR 204? That way everyone would be using one intersection that would be safer and make traffic flow better. What they did there, too, has forced people to find other ways of getting where they need to go. udub LS | Nov 14, 2009 7:00 pm | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Road Construction Yes, eliminating the turn lane from S. Lake Stevens road onto 9 will be a nightmare and create a huge problem. What most people don't realize is that at the other end of that S. Lake Stevens road where it has become Cavalero Rd and meets with 20th, just above the tressel will make it a bigger nightmare. The plans for the road there is to become a right turn only onto 20th as they complete the road construction to keep traffic flowing. That means that all residents that live in this area already being inconvenienced by restructuring of roads will only have 1 option. To go down 87th Ave to Bickford, turn right then to US 2 to go across to Everett. (Approx) 2 to 3 miles out of your way to get to Everett or I-5 no matter what. So YES this is a bad thing for all residents living in the affected area. JD Janene Deane | Nov 14, 2009 11:34 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal SR9 & South Lake Stevens Roads Thankfully the WSDOT has agreed to re-instate the left turn from SLS to northbound SR9 merge lane. For some of us, the alternative is more than a couple minutes out of the way to get out of the neighborhood. Revised drawings released by the DOT show raised traffic islands in the intersection which will permanently end the left turn lane from northbound SR9 as well as enforce not driving straight through the intersection on SLS. Hopes are that the issues with 32nd Street can be addressed effectively. Be safe everyone! Bill Kibby | Nov 14, 2009 10:06 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Highway 9 and City of Lake Stevens Plans Hey everyone, now did you know that the City of Lake Stevens has changed their comprehensive plan to make the old Nordin Lumber yard commercial? It is currently multi-family residential. I am curious if WSDOT knows of Lake Stevens plans to add most likely a big box store at the intersection of Highway 9 and SLStevens Road. How in the heck is that going to happen if there is no left turn off 9 on SLS Road. The good part could be commercial won't be able to go there with all these state road improvements. Perhaps it is a blessing in disguise. Kristin Kelly, Futurewise Kristin Kelly | Nov 14, 2009 7:53 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal (No heading) Marilyn, I've lived in the area my entire life and can only say that Hwy 9 is more useless and frustrating with every improvement. Yes, that 90 deg corner at the bottom of 32nd is very dangerous. I ride that corner on my mountain bike and cringe. You may need to start taking Bickford Ave north to S. Lake Stevens Road. I do this to get back and forth from Frontier Village to Bickford Station. It's actually 5 min quicker than Hwy 9 (3 less lights). As you know, you can't drive straight across 9 on S. Lake Stevens Rd. People still do it with no problem. If I remember correctly, there is a merge right lane on northbound 9 from S. Lake Stevens Road. This was in the same space as your left hand turn lane onto S. Lake Stevens Rd. If they don't eliminate the merge lane, you still have room for your left hand turn lane. I can't imagine doing away with the merge lane, that would be extremely dangerous for you and your neighbors. Remember that hundreds of thousands of dollars in studies followed by tens of millions of dollars of "improvements" are simply turning Hwy 9 into a bigger parking lot for the 4-7 PM rush. It's never going to be about helping local traffic. You're on your own there. D. M. | Nov 14, 2009 7:18 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal (No heading) First of all, the argument of a whole extra minute of drive time is just ridiculous. If the big picture means that the majority of people have a shorter ride home, then unfortunately that's just life. As far as the safety concerns about 32nd and the 90 degree turn, they should definitely address those items. I notice they didn't mention how they also removed the left turn from 4th street onto highway 9, as well as a left turn from highway 9 onto 4th. Maybe we should all start a petition too. It adds at least a minute to my commute. Dan Roy | Nov 14, 2009 7:08 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal (No heading) I used to live off of 32nd and yes it is scary as hell to make a left turn from Northbound Hwy 9 onto 32nd. And that 90* turn at the bottom of the road is dangerous....the more traffic flowing on it the worse it will be. Winter would be a nightmare trying to get home for these folks because of the left turn and then declining down the road to be met by the blind 90* turn.....Snohomish County needs to rethink their planning. Suzie Jacobs | Nov 14, 2009 5:46 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

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