Madison-Palouse juncture free of its own safety issues

The Your Voice article (“County studying traffic along Palouse Highway in Valleyford,” July 28) has been called to my attention.

The focal point appears to be the intersection of the Palouse Highway and Madison Road.

While it is unfortunate that five accidents have occurred at this intersection in the last 11 months, these can only be attributed to driver inattention and outright negligence. There is nothing inherently dangerous or hazardous about this intersection.

It has unobstructed views in all directions, so what other conclusion is possible?

There are several other intersections in the area that are quite clearly hazardous or potentially so, featuring obstructed views of oncoming traffic or visibility limited by hill crests.

Madison Road and Palouse Highway has no such problems.

It apparently suits the interests of Elaine Rising to point to the accidents at the Madison Road/Palouse Highway intersection without any reference to causal facts, insisting that a lower speed limit will surely solve “the problem.”

Ms. Rising just happens to be the owner and operator of a small coffee shop on the southwest corner, and she would dearly love to have everyone passing by pull in for a cup. Most people are not inclined to pull over when they are running at 55 mph. Too bad.

Her real interest is quite transparent in her final quoted statement, “Do you always have to rush? Why don’t you slow down and smell the coffee beans.”

Rather than dwell on the self-serving stance of Ms. Rising, a position that cannot stand under any scrutiny, let’s take an objective look at the Palouse Highway.

It is “one of three two-lane roads identified by Barry Greene, Spokane County traffic engineer as having “safety concerns.”

I was a firefighter for Fire District 8 in Valleyford for 17 years (1973-1990). In that role, I responded to virtually all Palouse Highway accidents. That experience showed me the causes of the accidents.

A narrow, winding, unsafe road at 55 mph was never among them, and accident frequency was not remarkable or cause for concern. That was then; this is now.

The quoted record of 57 accidents over three years on the approximately 11-mile stretch is reasonable cause for looking at the situation. What is missing is the detail on the causes of this more recent lamentable record.

Is it speed, DUI, inattention, dangerous intersections, icy winter road conditions, or all or none of the above?

What it clearly is not is a result of a “hazardous” intersection at Madison Road, regardless of the accident record there. Nor is it a narrow or defective roadway unsafe at 55 mph at any point.

Let the record show that Spokane County has been upgrading the Palouse Highway for years, and at no small expense. You cite the quoted “reflective guideposts and center-line rumble strips … (and) replaced guard rail.”

What is not mentioned is the recent complete reconstruction and widening of the section from Valley Chapel Road to just east of Stevens Creek Road, a major project and vast improvement. It was the last section of the Palouse Highway to be widened and provided with broad shoulders, a program that began many years ago.

Some 35 years ago, the speed limit on the then relatively narrow and shoulderless Palouse Highway was 45 mph. As the improvement program took hold, so did the reality that this was a safe 55 mph road, and the speed limit was duly increased.

You quote Don Manning as concurring with Ms. Rising, but he offers only that “traffic is moving faster than the speed limit. It’s a hazard.”

This sounds like an enforcement issue rather than a speed limit that is too high.

The fact is that the Palouse Highway is unquestionably safe throughout its length at 55 mph.

It is safer today than it has ever been, a tribute to the major widening and straightening that has been done over the past decade or two, with special recognition and credit for the last major project finished only two or three years ago.

That said, safe passing is only possible at certain points, and as it happens, one of those points is the area in front of the Valleyford Park. People naturally speed up to complete their pass quickly and safely, and if they are eastbound, they may well be traveling at 60 mph when passing Ms. Rising’s coffee stand.

Will lowering the speed limit to 45 mph solve anything? No.

Ms. Rising hopes it will cause people to consider stopping for a coffee. Even if that were the case, is it reason to lower the speed limit? No.

If that becomes a driver for the decision, why stop at 45 mph? Why not 35 mph, or 20 mph for her potential customers?

You report that the “county is currently conducting an engineering study … analyzing land use, collision history, road geometry, driveway access, width and curvature of the roadway as well as intersections.” Interesting and laudable.

When the study is complete, a public hearing with the county commissioners will hear testimony as well as review the findings.

I cannot wait to avail myself of this opportunity to be heard in this forum. There appears to be a need for some balancing of the views presented.

Ms. Rising’sproclamation that it is a safety issue and community improvement is simply a smoke screen for feathering her personal interests.