Collisions Revive Concerns About U.S. 95 Stretch North Of Cda Scene Of Two Accidents On Same Day
Two collisions along a notoriously dangerous stretch of U.S. Highway 95 on Monday have left observers wondering what’s in store for improving the roadway north of Coeur d’Alene.
About 7 a.m., a Hayden woman pulled her white Chevy pickup out onto Highway 95 from Lancaster Road and collided with another truck pulling a small cement mixer.
Although no one was seriously injured, both pickup trucks were totaled and morning traffic was stalled for at least an hour, Idaho State Police troopers said.
Around 3:45 p.m., troopers investigated a three-car accident at Boekel Road just north of Lancaster in which a car was destroyed by fire.
One man was taken to Kootenai Medical Center after being extricated from his Ford Tempo.
Kenneth Parkinson, 71, of Athol, was admitted to Kootenai Medical Center Monday evening. His condition was not available.
The fire destroyed a 1972 Plymouth Satellite, driven by Jeff Craig.
The Hayden Lake man said he was turning left from Highway 95 onto Boekel Road when he was rear-ended by a Ford Taurus driven by 49-year-old Sandra Gross of Rathdrum.
Craig’s car spun around then burst into flames. He was not injured.
The Taurus spun around and hit Parkinson’s Ford Tempo, then landed in a field alongside the highway.
Monday’s collisions were the third and fourth injury accidents in less than a month at or near the intersection of Highway 95 and Lancaster.
In late August, a 3-year-old girl and her 4-year-old brother were thrown from their family’s Suburban after it was struck by a truck. The girl was treated for severe head injuries and was released weeks later from the hospital.
About two weeks ago, another minor injury accident totaled a Chevrolet Camero after it slid through the intersection and hit a truck heading north on Highway 95.
“It seems to me somebody should be making that a priority,” said Jake Dyer, general manager at Huckleberry Holesalers, a nursery on the corner of Highway 95 and Lancaster. “A light there would solve problems more than anything.”
Near misses there, he said, “are a daily occurrence.”
The Idaho Transportation Department has no immediate plans to make changes to the intersection.
However, there are plans to hire a consultant to look at where collisions happen and how much traffic the road carries, said Barbara Babic, spokeswoman for the department in Coeur d’Alene.
The one-year study, which could begin in a month, will look at land-use planning, traffic volumes and accident history on Highway 95 from Ohio-Match Road to state Highway 53, Babic said.
“We’re hoping they will identify the highway projects for the next 20 years,” she said.