OLYMPIA — State transportation experts and lawmakers are planning to invest $5 million to add a new passing lane along a mile-long stretch of U.S. 2 west of Sultan, a project they hope will make the deadly highway safer.
But none of the 47 people who died along U.S. 2 during the last nine years was killed in the area where the project is planned, state officials acknowledged Wednesday.
And the $5 million project represents well under 1 percent of $2 billion in work that state officials say is needed to fix the highway’s biggest safety problems.
Any project will help, said Tom Cock of Woodinville. His son, Thomas Turner, 17, was killed in a U.S. 2 crossover crash during the last holiday season.
“It’s a very small positive step. I call it a baby step. The reality is that we have a huge problem and we need a lot of money to fix this,” Cock said.
The $5 million passing lane project is intended to improve safety and ease traffic congestion on the highway between Monroe and Sultan, said Lorena Eng, a regional administrator of the state Department of Transportation.
Nobody has died along the 1-mile stretch where the new passing lane is planned, said Mike Swires, a traffic engineer of the transportation department.
But in the 6 miles of roadway between Sultan and Monroe, there have been 16 crossover collisions between 1999 and 2007 involving westbound vehicles that have drifted into the eastbound lane, Eng said.
Four people have died and more have been injured.
Still, creating the passing lane is better than nothing, said Fred Walser, who leads the U.S. 2 Safety Coalition, a group of local residents and officials.
“That needs to be done if the money is available,” Walser said. “The last thing we want to do is argue with someone and lose the ability to get that funding.”
The group had met with lawmakers to decide how to spend $5 million. State transportation officials suggested adding the passing lane would be the best use of the money available, Eng said.
State data show fatal accidents have been distributed along the highway, but the greatest concentration is near populous areas. The eastern end of Monroe has the most fatal crashes, and one of the most expensive proposed fixes: a highway bypass around town. Just the first part of that project is expected to cost upwards of $66 million.
“I’m happy with anything we can get. It’s far from what it’s going to take to fix all the problems,” said Rep. Dan Kristiansen, R-Snohomish.
Kristiansen had introduced three bills in the 2008 Legislature to win money for U.S. 2. The bills got a hearing, but died later in the House Transportation Committee, controlled by Democrats.
Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, who oversees the committee, included the $5 million for the passing lane in a transportation spending bill. The bill was introduced to the House on Wednesday. The money is expected to be in the Senate version of the bill as well.
The state also plans to spend about $4 million this year to grind centerline rumble strips into the roadway between east of Monroe and Stevens Pass. The rumble strips are designed to alert drivers who stray toward oncoming traffic.
The passing lane and the rumble strips are among 56 projects recommended in a safety study, released by the state last year. The study itself cost $1.3 million and took 18 months to finish.
Since 1993, the state has invested $36 million in improving the highway between Snohomish and Skykomish.
The safety study ranks the Monroe bypass as the most important improvement along U.S. 2.
The passing lane near Sultan is ranked 33.
“Ranking doesn’t make a big difference because the whole road needs to be improved,” Walser said.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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