Intersections May Not Be Perfect, But They’re Better Than Alternative

Well it’s been shown now that some Valley intersections are more like dead ends than traffic control points.

A study described in the Voice last week identified three Valley crossroads that earned an F when rated for rush-hour delays they cause. The report went on to say that if no traffic-flow improvements are made, new housing projects will make many more go substandard.

But the bright side is that our intersections are controlled, and you know that if you wait it out, you’ll get through eventually.

On the other hand, and the other coast, you find New England’s solution to intersection tangles: the rotary. Having just returned from the Boston area, I can tell you, rotaries are traffic management in the same way a wildfire is weed control.

No signal lights, no lane markings and no slowing down.

A rotary, if you haven’t had the thrill, is a circular intersection where many roads come together like the spokes of a wheel. But where there is an axle in the middle of a wheel, in a rotary, there is someone like me who has pulled over to a stop and is paralyzed by indecision.

In a rotary, cars don’t just travel around in a circle, but often zing across on tangents, crossing the flow of the whirlpool. If you’re a local, you ignore the other vehicles in the rotary and simply take a straight path to the road of your choice. But if your a visitor and the least bit tentative, you’re apt to take several laps while waiting to break across to the road you need.

Which presumes that in the frenzy of the moment, you can even identify which is your road. (Is it Highway 1, Alternate 1, or 1A?).

At one point, in Worcester, Mass., out of desperation we took the first road we could get over to and it led us directly up a ramp a shopping mall parking lot. We’d been looking for a hotel but just about decided to call that parking lot good enough rather than go back to the rotary.

Sure, in the Valley we have some intersections that take more than 60 seconds to get through during rush hour. So what? Be glad for that traffic light that gives you a clear signal of your right of way and makes everybody else stop.

And speaking of Back East, I’d like to mention my loathing for tollways. It’s not the fee itself that’s so bad, but the contortions they make you go through to pay the six bits. They often route you off onto a special loop to get you to the toll booth, and in rush hour, may make you wait several minutes.

I’ll never say the word FREEway again without appreciating what the term implies.

Smoggy corners

More homes equals more cars equals busier roads equals more frustrated drivers. It’s hard to get around that equation, which was validated by the recent Spokane Valley Transportation Study.

It’s the price of popularity. With several thousand dwellings in the Valley planning pipeline, it’s obvious this is the place to be for many people.

Whether you consider that good or bad, it will undeniably put a severe pinch on the network of Valley byways, causing longer waits at intersections and increasing the time it takes to get around.

And it’s more than just driving frustration at stake. Another byproduct of traffic delays is air pollution.

The Spokane area is already in violation of Environmental Protection Agency standards for carbon monoxide, and because the Clean Air Act prohibits the creation of or worsening of a violation, something has to give.

Four Valley intersections evaluated in the Spokane Regional Transportation Council’s study are above the 9 parts per million EPA limit (measured as an 8-hour average), and all are along Sprague: at Argonne (9.8 ppm), at Pines (13.4 ppm), at Park (11.6 ppm) and at Sullivan (12.95).

Each of these intersections and others will be more congested as new housing comes on line and we’re going to find air quality impacts of traffic a more visible part of growth planning.

, DataTimes MEMO: On Your Way is a Valley Voice column focusing on commuter lifestyles and issues. Your views on any of the topics discussed are invited. Please write: On Your Way, The Valley Voice, 13208 E. Sprague, Spokane, WA 99216. Or fax us at 459-5482.