Getting There: Elected leaders look to improve Spokane’s most dangerous intersections

Spokane’s most dangerous intersections, where hundreds of collisions have occurred in the past seven years, fall along the city’s major north-south arterials. Current and future city leaders argue the most effective way to make them safer is to make them slower.

Data provided by the Spokane Police Department shows the intersections where collisions are most frequent fall along the Maple, Monroe, Division and Nevada-Hamilton corridors, relatively wide commuter routes with higher speeds. Problems are most concentrated north of the Spokane River.

There are exceptions to the rule, such as the intersection that has seen by far the most collisions since 2017: Greene Street and Mission Avenue, immediately southwest of Spokane Community College and just blocks away from Chief Garry Park. That intersection has seen 68 car crashes in the past seven years, believed to have injured at least one person, whether they were in a vehicle, on a bike or a pedestrian.

But wherever these dangerous intersections are found, Snyder and council members across the aisle agree that changing people’s behaviors is necessary to improving safety on these accident-prone streets.

“Those are the biggest streets, and there’s no surprise that’s where a lot of our fatalities and serious injuries occur,” said former Councilman and incoming city transportation director Jon Snyder. “We’re an over 100-year-old city trying to look at decades and decades of transportation policy that’s gotten away from being people-centered – and like in a lot of cities, we’re seeing our numbers go in the wrong direction.”

Councilwoman Kitty Klitzke’s work prior to running for office included advocating for what became the Complete Streets Program, which requires bicyclists, pedestrians and bus passengers be considered equally when designing streets. Her district, which covers northwest Spokane and the Peaceful Valley and Browne’s Addition neighborhood, also includes or borders more than half of the 31 most dangerous intersections in the city.

Changing street designs to discourage speeding, whether through roundabouts or narrower roadways, as well as to make it safer to cross the street or bike down it are arguably the most important changes the city could make to improve safety, Klitzke argues. In some cases those design solutions could be specific to an intersection, such as making it easier to merge from northbound on-ramp onto the Maple Street Bridge or to walk across its span, but many strategies could be implemented broadly, she argued.

“When you add things that slow cars down, that cause people to look around and be more cautious, it’s always going to be better,” she said.

However, overhauling infrastructure is also usually the most expensive solution, and neither is it particularly quick, Klitzke added. Re-establishing and filling out a traffic enforcement unit may help get people to drive more safely, but Klitzke pointed to speeding and red -light cameras as solutions that could be quickly rolled out and would be effective 24/7. She also noted that she went from being skeptical to encouraged by the possible use of drones to safely pursue street racers or otherwise allow police to avoid a high -speed chase inside the city.

Data shows that ticket-issuing cameras are effective at changing the behavior of drivers, Snyder argued, and they also reduce the need to pull additional officers away from patrol or other duties.

While the tickets issued by those speeding and red -light cameras can be costly, new state legislation this year reduced some of the fines significantly. Before June, speeding tickets could cost anywhere from $217 to $450 per violation; the new law capped camera ticket prices at $145 in most areas and up to $290 in school zones, though Spokane will only be charging $250 at most, according to police department officials.

The new state law also allows the penalty to be cut in half if the violator is a recipient of most forms of state public assistance.

The city maintains red-light cameras at 10 intersections throughout the city and has plans to expand to at least two more in the short term. There are eight speed cameras, currently all placed near elementary or high schools.

While the new law will likely cut into the city’s revenue from tickets issued from traffic cameras, it also widely expanded where cities like Spokane can place those cameras, including on sections of state routes that pass through city limits – such as Division Street – areas with particularly high crash risks and in work zones.

Data showing which intersections are most prone to crashes, which police Chief Kevin Hall presented to the Spokane City Council on Nov. 4, will help inform where those new cameras could be most effective.

Councilman Jonathan Bingle, whose district covers northeast and downtown Spokane and borders Division Street, noted that the eventual completion of the North Spokane Corridor is expected to relieve a significant amount of congestion currently on Division and other north-south arterials. However, that project isn’t scheduled to be finished until the end of 2030, even if no further threats to its funding are raised.

Bingle, who somewhat jokingly admitted that he dislikes roundabouts for no particular reason “other than they annoy me,” believes law enforcement will need to be the short-term solution, including both traffic officers and cameras.

“Traffic safety is a priority for me,” he said. “I’m not so worried about the mode of enforcement so long as enforcement is there and effective.”

In a July news conference spurred by the death of 78-year-old author and foster care advocate Janet Mann, who was hit and killed by a driver while she was walking in a crosswalk, Mayor Lisa Brown pledged to look at many strategies that could be implemented quickly to improve safety.

She committed to identifying streets where speed limits would be reduced, intersections where drivers would not be allowed to take free turns through red lights, and intersections where the city would implement a “leading pedestrian interval,” a period of time where pedestrians can cross the street before motor vehicles are given a green light. Various city departments will also work to double the number of speed feedback signs, which show drivers how fast they are driving to discourage speeding, within the next two years.

Snyder believes that these and more changes could have a real impact on the safety of Spokane residents, but also argued in favor of a broader cultural change.

“When we decide that it’s not acceptable, that it’s not collateral damage, it’s not something we’re willing to stand for, then we will start giving up 20 seconds on our commute to work to make it easier for a kid to not get killed walking to school,” Snyder said.