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That home-style pot roast you love so much? And the fresh strawberry pie for dessert?
It’s not worth taking your life in your hands, according to the Spokane Valley City Council.
The council – by no means unanimously – agreed that the city should place signs on six-lane Argonne, just north of the freeway, which would prohibit left-hand turns onto Indiana to access the popular Marie Callender’s restaurant and other businesses during busy daytime hours. The signs will further instruct northbound motorists to make their left turns at signaled Knox Avenue.
“For $500, I’m tempted to try the sign,” Deputy Mayor Dick Denenny said.
The city staff-preferred option – which wasn’t popular with some council members or management at Marie Callender’s – was to extend the median to prevent left turns at Indiana. While such a move would force drivers to seek an alternate route to get to the restaurant, or Spokane Valley High School or the other businesses in that location, it would also prevent them from crossing three lanes of busy southbound traffic.
“This is something we can do something about and fix,” Neil Kersten, engineer, told the council.
What typically happens – especially in the busy morning hours when southbound cars are headed to the freeway – is that motorists, many of them high school students, are looking to make a left turn at unsignalled Indiana. Meanwhile, cars have stacked down from the light at the freeway that either block the intersection or prevent drivers from seeing well to make the turn.
Cars in the far right lane, headed south, are attempting to enter the freeway and are often traveling 35 mph or more. With those two other lanes of backed up cars, neither driver can see each other and many T-bone type of accidents occur, Kersten said. In 2007, there were nine such wrecks – however, none of them were fatal.
The median extension preferred by city staffers would cost about $47,000 – and while it would have stopped the turns altogether, it also was the most expensive option. It also would be detrimental to the affected businesses unless there were instructions to let drivers know where to go.
“I’ve been going to Marie Callender’s for years, and that’s how you get to Marie Callender’s,” Council Member Steve Taylor said of the turn at Indiana. He added, however, “I know how dangerous it is.”
Council Member Diana Wilhite said she was in favor of doing nothing.
“That’s business hours,” she said of the no-turns during peak times. “Let’s not do it at all.”
Council Member Rose Dempsey – not thrilled with the $47,000 cost of the median extension – said she preferred to treat drivers “like big boys and girls” and that they would figure out how to get to the businesses with signs in place.
While it wasn’t clear if most of the council members agreed with that plan, there was no consensus to extend the median.
“We don’t need council consensus to put up a sign,” Kersten said.
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By
Mike Huffman
