Some truly in a hurry, start life in the fast lane

Freeway babies are becoming commonplace in Seattle, but Spokane has also seen a number of babies born on the road or along the side of the road when mothers didn’t make it to the hospital.

Hospitals and local fire departments don’t track statistics on the subject, but one Spokane Valley firefighter vividly recalls delivering a baby as he zoomed down Interstate 90.

Randy Olson, now the EMS chief for the Spokane Valley Fire Department, was a new firefighter at the time.

As emergency crews raced toward the hospital, the baby girl decided she wasn’t going to wait. She was born near the Sherman Street overpass, said Olson.

“They’re very, very slippery,” he said of newborns.

But the story doesn’t end there.

“About 16 years later I was on duty at another station and this woman comes in and says, ‘Do you remember me?’ “

Olson didn’t, but was happy to meet the girl he’d delivered, then a very embarrassed teenager.

Highway 97 woes

Highway 97 is narrow and winding, offers few passing opportunities and is becoming more congested each month. Now the Kootenai Metropolitan Planning Organization is asking members of the public what they think should be done to improve it.

Increasing development along the shores of Lake Coeur d’Alene has been controversial in recent years as many argue that the highway can’t handle the traffic. And there aren’t a lot of good ways to widen it, given development right up to the edge of the highway in many areas.

While KMPO usually gets a 10 percent return rate on transportation surveys, about 20 percent were returned recently on the topic of Highway 97.

The results haven’t been compiled yet, but property owners in the vicinity of the highway were asked about traffic and safety on the roadway now as well as for their opinion on a variety of types of improvements.

KMPO will present some of the findings at an open house Tuesday, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Camp Easton, 23516 Highway 97, Harrison. Camp Easton is located between Echo Bay and Gotham Bay.

Pines Road closure

This one is sure to cause havoc in Spokane Valley, so take note: Pines Road will be closed between Mirabeau Parkway and Trent today and Tuesday. Detours are available via Sullivan and University, but expect delays.

Safety strides

If plane crashes today occurred at the same rate they did in 1965, a commercial airliner would be involved in an accident every 10 days.

That’s a frightening statistic that never came to be, in large part because of the efforts of the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates civil aviation accidents and recommends improvements to prevent them.

Things like modern flight recorders and advanced pilot training have come from those recommendations.

The NTSB just celebrated its 40th birthday.

So here’s a wish for future success in making travel safer.

Slow going

North Spokane

The left lane of Ash Street is closed from Longfellow Avenue to Wellesley Avenue for water main work. Then, starting next week, Maple Street will be closed from Northwest Boulevard to just north of Wellesley until the end of June. Start planning an alternate route.

Freya Street is closed from Euclid to Garland and from Market Street to Gerlach Road, and Regal Street is closed from Garland to Rich.

Qwest work on Division Street will create restrictions this week between Mission Avenue and Mansfield Avenue. Mission Avenue also will be affected just east of Normandie Street.

South Spokane

On the South Hill, 29th Avenue is reduced to one lane in each direction between Regal Street and Southeast Boulevard.

Monroe Street will have some lane closures this week between Sixth and 14th avenues.

Spokane Valley

Several streets are closed in the area of Evergreen Road, Valleyway and Best Road in Spokane Valley for sewer work. Springfield, Alki, Nixon and Valleyway are all closed from Evergreen to Best; Nixon is also closed from Best to Calvin; Bannen Road and Bolivar Road are closed from Sprague to Valleyway; and Calvin is closed from Main to Nixon.

Schafer Road is closed today and Tuesday between Dishman Mica and Sundown Drive.

North Idaho

Government Way is under construction in Hayden between Honeysuckle and Wyoming.