City Will Close Deadly Corner
Traffic will be routed around the intersection where an 18-year-old woman died in March, city leaders decided Tuesday.
Drivers no longer will be able to enter Northwest Boulevard from Lincoln Way. Turns from the steep, awkwardly angled Lincoln Way onto the boulevard are too dangerous, City Council members said.
Forty accidents have occurred there in four years. The latest, a non-injury collision, slowed traffic to a crawl Tuesday afternoon.
The council’s unanimous decision came after an emotional plea by 20-year-old Michelle Stokes to fix the dangerous corner where a car driven by her teenage sister, Jennifer Stokes, collided with another car.
Stokes died March 26, three days after her car hit a delivery van as she pulled north onto the boulevard from Lincoln Way. She was headed from class to her job at Burger King.
“I sat with Jenny for three days at the hospital,” Michelle Stokes said in a near whisper. “I don’t want anyone else’s family to live through what my family has lived through.”
She also asked for an explanation why city leaders had not acted on the intersection earlier - despite being urged to twice before by a traffic safety committee.
The council vetoed measures in 1985 and 1992 because neighboring businesses and Fort Ground residents feared losing access to the boulevard.
Times have changed.
“I met with Fort Ground residents about this proposal and there really wasn’t a lot of outcry,” said City Engineer Gordon Dobler. “Most people said, ‘We don’t use it anyway.”’
Only the owner of the Robin Hood RV Park, just south of the intersection, told city leaders he would lose substantial business if access was limited. City Council members said they simply had no alternative.
Michelle Stokes and friends and family of Jennifer responded to the vote with applause and tears.
The city will block off Lincoln Way north of the Northwest Boulevard. South of the boulevard, Lincoln Way will be one-way headed south.
Northbound traffic from Milwaukee Avenue will enter Lincoln Way through D Street and Idaho Avenue.
The changes are expected to cost about $30,000.