No left turn

Spokane Valley police have started writing tickets to motorists who violate a new left-turn ban on Argonne Road at Indiana Avenue.

The City Council imposed the 7 a.m.-to-6 p.m., Monday-through-Friday ban in mid-October as an alternative to the concrete island city staff members recommended.

Traffic engineer Inga Note, Public Works Director Neil Kersten and Police Chief Rick Van Leuven said the barrier was needed to end a pattern of broadside crashes.

The accidents occur when northbound motorists try to get to the Marie Callender’s restaurant and other businesses on the west side of Argonne by slipping through gaps in southbound traffic.

The restaurant at 2111 N. Argonne Road has a driveway on Indiana Avenue at the northern end of the Argonne-Mullan couplet.

At the very point where northbound traffic on Mullan Road merges onto Argonne Road, some motorists turn left onto Indiana.

A traffic signal at the Interstate 90 overpass creates breaks in two inner southbound lanes. But traffic in the outside southbound lane flows onto the freeway without stopping.

Drivers who worm their way across the first two lanes often don’t notice that traffic is still moving in the third – until they get smacked.

Police say there have been about three dozen accidents at the intersection so far this year, and traffic engineer Inga Note says at least nine of those involved left turns.

Council members voted 5-2 on Oct. 14 try signs before spending $47,000 on a barrier that would prevent turns even during hours when traffic is lighter. Council members Diana Wilhite and Steve Taylor dissented.

Marie Callender’s manager Dan Barbieri objected that the signs would confuse motorists and drive away customers for the restaurant and other businesses. “Hundreds of jobs” were at stake, he said.

“I’d say 20 hours a day there really is no problem,” Barbieri said.

Advanced Dermatology & Skin Surgery also objected, but Larry Bush, principal of nearby Spokane Valley High School, supported the ban on left turns at Indiana.

One of two new signs now directs northbound motorists to go a block north to Knox Avenue and make their turns there.

Drivers may either make a U-turn at the intersection or go a block west to reach their destinations from Hutchinson Avenue.

Police say they have stopped numerous violators since the signs went up last month, but they issued only verbal warnings until Monday.

A spokesman said officers issued 23 improper-turn citations Monday and 10 more on Tuesday at $124 a pop.