Highway 9 traffic flow top priority
Published 11:08 pm Sunday, September 27, 2009
From John Navin of Lake Stevens: I have observed over the past 10 years the increase of traffic on Highway 9. I also have observed numerous accidents at Fourth Street SE and the highway in Lake Stevens as well as children running or bicycling across the highway at the intersection. Why is there not a light there?
Bronlea Mishler, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, responds: This section of Highway 9 is a high-speed, high-volume roadway, with about 19,000 vehicles traveling it each day. We recently completed a project to improve safety at this intersection by restricting certain turns. Go to www.wsdot.wa.gov/Northwest/SR9Safety4thStSE for more information on this project.
Drivers headed east on Fourth Street SE will not be able to cross Highway 9 or turn left to head northbound on Highway 9. Drivers headed westbound on Fourth Street SE will not be able to cross Highway 9.
Beforehand, we worked with local agencies, including Snohomish County and the Lake Stevens School District, to design improvements that would enhance safety. We looked at several possible options. Installing a signal would create more problems on Highway 9 because of the proximity to the signal at Market Street. The signal is less than half a mile to the north, and having two signals so close together would create backups and increase the risk of congestion-related collisions.
Restricting movements at the intersection will reduce the risk of serious collisions for drivers on both roadways. Relatively few drivers cross the highway at Fourth Street SE, and a disproportionately high number of collisions involve drivers making that movement.
Our priority is keeping drivers safe on our roadways and we often have to balance some driver inconvenience with the opportunity for significant safety benefits. We believe these relatively small changes will greatly enhance safety at this intersection.
Fixing utility covers
From Paul Anderson of Mukilteo: Drive Evergreen Way in Everett both directions between 52nd Street SE and Fred Meyer in the curb lane and see how many utility covers you can dodge. Many of them are low due to resurfacing and not raising them accordingly.
Dongho Chang, traffic engineer for the city of Everett, responds: We will be raising and replacing the utility covers along Evergreen Way. We plan on performing the work this fall.
Traffic light fix
From Bonnie Garrison of Silver Lake: I am inquiring about the right-hand turn lane arrow at the bottom of 112th Street SE and 19th Avenue (Bothell-Everett Highway). When they widened 112th Street and added the right-turn lane to 19th it was a working arrow.
Shortly after that it quit working and has never worked since. This would help to clear this lane much quicker and help reduce some of the backup at this intersection. Please get someone to turn it back on.
Dongho Chang, traffic engineer for the city of Everett, responds: The right turn arrow for traffic headed east on 112th Street was turned off to allow drivers northbound on 19th Street to make a U-turn when they have a green left turn arrow. Drivers still can make the right turn from 112th during a red light, but must yield to traffic already in the intersection and the U-turning cars. We will turn the right arrow back on when we complete the widening on 112th Street, which is scheduled to begin construction next year.
E-mail Street Smarts at stsmarts@heraldnet.com. Please include your city of residence.
