Wreck At Bad Corner Critically Injures Cda Woman
An accident at a dangerous Coeur d’Alene intersections left an 18-year-old woman in critical condition Thursday.
Jennifer Stokes of Coeur d’Alene collided with James Peck of Newman Lake, Wash., at the Northwest Boulevard and Lincoln Way intersection.
A steep and oddly angled crossing, it is Coeur d’Alene’s eighth most dangerous intersection, according to statistics released by the Coeur d’Alene Police Department.
Stokes was headed east on Lincoln Way and had stopped at the intersection with Northwest Boulevard, according to a report from the Idaho State Police. Lincoln Way slopes steeply upward near the stop sign on the west side of Northwest Boulevard, making it difficult to see oncoming traffic.
Peck was driving his van south on Northwest Boulevard when Stokes pulled out in front of him, according to the ISP.
“I tried to get out of the way,” Peck said, standing near his fish delivery van, its front end smashed in. “But I couldn’t do anything.”
The collision sent Stokes’ car careening about 150 feet. It landed on the railroad tracks that run beside Northwest Boulevard.
Stokes was taken to Kootenai Medical Center, where she is in the intensive care unit.
Police blocked off that section of Northwest Boulevard for nearly an hour, detouring traffic around the accident scene.
In the last four years there have been 34 wrecks at the intersection at Northwest Boulevard and Lincoln Way, said Coeur d’Alene police officer Mike Calderwood.
From the downhill side, “You have to almost climb up into the intersection just to see if you can go through it,” he said.
The intersection at U.S. Highway 95 and Appleway is Coeur d’Alene’s most dangerous crossing, with 100 accidents over the last four years, Calderwood said.
xxxx Intersection has a number of problems The Lincoln Way-Northwest Boulevard crossing has three main problems, said Jim Armitage, chairman of Coeur d’Alene’s Traffic Safety Commission: Lincoln Way slopes steeply where it intersects Northwest Boulevard. Lincoln Way intersects Northwest Boulevard at a narrow angle, rather than at a right angle. Railroad tracks cut across Lincoln Way very close to where drivers must stop before they cross Northwest Boulevard. Coeur d’Alene’s Traffic Safety Commission will discuss possible solutions to the intersection’s problems at its April meeting, Armitage said. Solutions could range from installing traffic lights to revamping the way the roads are aligned. - Winda Benedetti