Speed up for safety through Everett

Published 10:55 pm Tuesday, September 18, 2007

EVERETT — An idea intended to slow drivers down to increase safety for men and women working on I-5 failed – and actually added confusion for drivers already negotiating a confusing work zone.

The speed limit on I-5 in downtown Everett was lowered to 50 mph in August after a construction worker was injured and several other workers lived through near misses.

The problem was that while the black and orange advisory signs told drivers to go 50 mph, the regular 60 mph speed limit signs stayed in effect.

“It seemed to work for a few days, but it wasn’t much ­longer before some people started speeding up back to the original speed limit or higher,” said Ryan Bianchi, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation. “Obviously we don’t want anyone to go above 60 mph, but they do.”

The sign confusion caused drivers in all lanes to act naturally: Some followed the advisory signs, some the legal signs and some drove at 70 mph, which is a typical freeway speed.

State engineers decided having traffic mix at those speeds was too dangerous.

So, construction workers were out pulling out the 50 mph signs over the weekend, with hopes of taking down the last one Tuesday night.

“It’s a tough decision to make,” Bianchi said. “It’s absolutely a situation where we need drivers to slow down and understand that they are in a construction zone. In the end, we felt all we can do is remind people that this is an active construction zone.”

Troopers patrolling the area could not ticket anyone driving faster than 50 mph because the legal speed limit remained at 60 mph, said trooper Kirk Rudeen, Washington State Patrol spokesman.

Still, the agency would like to see drivers slow down in the area, to protect both construction workers and other drivers.

“What we’re asking for is people to not exceed the posted speed limit, to increase their following distance and be cognizant that there is construction going on,” Rudeen said.

The urge to lower the speed limit came as the work on the I-­5 widening project shifted from the shoulders to the median, which is narrow and difficult to access. Spinning cars, flying debris and bouncing tires have been slamming into the work site far too frequently, state officials added.

A 3-foot-long, 10-pound piece of a leaf spring — part of a vehicle’s suspension — broke off and flew into the construction site in August. The bullet-like piece of steel narrowly missed a group of workers.

A week earlier, a drunken driver careened into a work truck, spun around, crashed into a guardrail and then knocked over a construction worker who was trying to run away. She escaped with minor injuries.

Reporter Lukas Velush: 425-339-3449 or lvelush@heraldnet.com.