Transportation Heroes Make Disasters Easier

We read a lot about the horrific things drivers do to one another. Often unnoticed are the acts of kindness that happen every day.

Shortly after I moved to Spokane in 1992, a stranger saved me from a long, lonely walk in the cold.

That winter, the snow fell and fell, not in gentle showers but in the brutish manner of a dump truck unloading a ton of rocks.

A Midwesterner, I was used to snow. I’d spent many a winter morning in my childhood with my ear glued to the radio, praying to trade Dick and Jane for snowsuit and sled.

But the sheer volume of that winter’s snow filled Spokane’s sidewalks to overflowing, leaving the city no choice but to take the unusual step of piling the stuff in the middle of the street.

Still new to the area and its unorthodox snow-removal methods, I left the newspaper late one Friday evening bound for home.

Maybe it was hunger-induced distraction. Maybe it was exhaustion. But I suddenly found my tired old Honda Civic stranded on a tall pile of snow in the middle of Monroe Street.

There I was, my wheels turning in the air, a tiny turtle straddling a very big rock.

I stepped from my car, tears draining from my eyes, and climbed carefully off the snow pile. As cars buzzed by, I glared at the Honda, silently cursing my own inattention.

Seconds later, a pickup truck with headlights ablaze pulled up behind me.

In my worn memory, tattered by many retellings, my hero stepped from his truck sporting jeans, a mustache and a cowboy hat. (It is the West, you know.) In his hands, he carried a heavy metal chain.

Saying little but “Hello” and making a few comments on my odd predicament, he hooked my Honda to his truck and gingerly pulled my car from its perch.

I could swear he tipped his hat as he climbed back in his truck and drove away.

People like my hero aren’t as rare as one might think.

Lt. Bruce Clark of the Washington State Patrol says a group of nine senior volunteers sponsored by the Department of Transportation spend hours each day prowling Eastern Washington highways looking for stranded drivers.

They change flats, jump-start engines and give rides, Clark said. “They help thousands each year.”

And then there’s the soft-hearted stranger who happens upon a person in need, Clark said.

“A lot of people are jaded, concerned about their own safety,” he said. “But there’s still a lot of people out there who will stop and help.”

Tell us your stories about the people who rescued you when your radiator overheated, your fan belt broke or your car just gave out.

Check out the box that runs with the column for ways to get in touch with us.

Say what?

Several readers were outraged by the city’s explanation for why there isn’t a left-hand turn lane at Hamilton and Mission.

Two weeks ago, in a column about the city’s most dangerous intersections, transportation officials said adding a left-turn lane would increase air-quality problems at the congested intersection.

“Somebody needs to put some sense into those guys’ heads down there,” said one caller.

“I think that’s literally poppycock,” said another. “If you can empty out the turn lanes, you’ve got less pollution.”

But Spokane Transportation Director Bruce Steele stands by his earlier response.

Right now, the average driver waits 18 seconds to turn left at the intersection, Steele said. Add a left-turn lane and that number jumps to 34 seconds because of the added signal cycles.

“And when a car is idling, it’s kicking out the most carbon monoxide,” Steele said.

The city can’t do anything to an intersection that further degrades the region’s already bad air quality, Steele, he said.

He added that drivers concerned about turning left at Mission and Hamilton might try the less-congested intersection at Indiana and Hamilton.

Hot spots

57th Avenue from Regal Street to the Palouse Highway. The road is often restricted to one lane so drivers should expect delays.

Lyons Avenue from Division to Wall streets. All but local drivers are detoured onto Francis.

U.S. 395 from the Little Spokane River to Half-Moon Road. Drivers should expect occasional lane restrictions along that stretch of highway.

Getting There runs every other Monday. Have a transportation question that’s been nagging you? Let us hear it. Got an idea for a column? Drop us a line. Phone us at (509) 459-5312 or fax us at (509) 459-5482. Send e-mail to kristinaj@spokesman.com or send a note to Kristina Johnson at The Spokesman Review, 999 W. Riverside, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Please leave a name and telephone number.