Post Falls Weighs Options For Crosswalk

City leaders may add street lights, reduce speed limits or install a traffic signal near the Post Falls Factory Outlets where a woman was killed crossing the street last week.

City engineers visited the outlet center Tuesday to begin researching a way to increase safety where five-lane Riverbend Avenue bisects the shopping center.

Later this week, engineers will visit with outlet mall workers to seek suggestions for fixing the crossing.

“The city considers it really important to get this taken care of,” said city engineer Bill Melvin. “Tragedies like this force you to take another look.”

Shannon Wilhelm, 19, died Friday night when a truck hit her as she crossed the street from one of the strip centers to the other. She was in the crosswalk.

Police have said it did not appear the driver was speeding or drinking. Several workers have said the dark street is scary and dangerous to cross at night.

Before the project was built, however, developers apparently did not expect shoppers to walk between the two sets of stores - but would instead drive or only visit one side of the center.

A 1992 traffic study by Spokane-based Taylor Engineering predicted only 10 percent of people visiting the outlet center would travel between the two buildings, according to city records. The other 90 percent would drive to one set of stores, shop, then leave, the study suggested.

In 1992, former city engineer Bruce Noble questioned that and other claims by Taylor experts. Noble also asked the developer’s engineers why they wouldn’t consider putting in a stop light for pedestrians at the crosswalk.

In a written response, Taylor officials said it would take three minutes to walk from one set of shops to the other. Shoppers typically avoid “walk times of that magnitude,” the report states.

Attempts to reach Taylor principals were unsuccessful Tuesday.

“I don’t think any of us are faulting that traffic study,” said Melvin.

In hindsight, said associate city planner Collin Coles, building a linked development on both sides of a street as wide as Riverbend Avenue might have been a bad idea - even though the land was zoned for such development. Coles could not think of another commercial development in the region in a similar position.

But Coles also said putting up a street light or crossing signal might not be the best option. The traffic engineer was following federal guidelines, he said.

“It’s just not cut and dried,” he said.

He suggested there may be less vehicle traffic in the future because the Coeur d’Alene Greyhound Park to the west of the outlets no longer will offer live dog racing.

Regardless, outlet mall manager Ed Adamchak said the center’s developer would work with the city and possibly even help pay to help fix the problem. The outlet mall was built by and is managed by Buffalo, New York-based Benderson Development Co.

“I don’t think that would be out of the question,” he said. “Without safe traffic, we wouldn’t have any customers.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo; map of accident site