Accident-Reduction Campaign Planned For U.S. 2 In/Around: Airway Heights, West Plains

A high rate of traffic accidents on U.S. Highway 2 west of Spokane has local officials planning a campaign to improve motorist and pedestrian safety.

The stretch of highway that passes through Airway Heights is being targeted for the latest corridor safety project.

“The overall goal is to reduce collisions in the corridor area,” said Peggy Hodges, of the Spokane County Traffic Safety Commission.

Law enforcement agencies are expected to step up enforcement of traffic laws. The state and the city of Airway Heights are considering improvements to crosswalks.

Highway signs and a publicity campaign are being planned to encourage safe driving.

An official kickoff for the Airway Heights Traffic Safety Project is planned for November.

The effort will focus on nearly 16 miles of U.S. 2 from the Interstate 90 interchange to the Lincoln County line.

It is intended to cut down on the 143 crashes reported over the past three calendar years.

A state highway study showed a high proportion of crashes from entering and exiting the highway, from rear-end collisions and from driving under the influence of intoxicants.

So far, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office has agreed to mount new enforcement patrols of at least 10 hours a month. The State Patrol will add traffic surveillance as schedules allow.

A special State Patrol car designed to apprehend aggressive drivers will be sent to the zone periodically.

At the same time, officials are looking at pedestrian safety within the city limits of Airway Heights.

In a letter to the Airway Heights City Council, one resident voiced support for pedestrian improvements.

“At this time, the only safe places for pedestrians to cross Highway 2 in Airway Heights are at lights located just east of Yokes (supermarket),” wrote Lana Boone, who lives on Craig Road.

She said walkers have to cross in stages because the expanse of pavement and the amount of traffic are too great to allow for easy crossings.

“Just ask any pedestrian how safe they feel when they are stuck in the middle of this intersection with cars racing by them in both directions, and terrified that a car is going to pull into the middle divider strip and hit them,” Boone said in the letter.

A crosswalk improvement committee has recommended putting a crosswalk between bus stops at Rambo Road and in the vicinity of Little Joe’s Tavern.

They also suggested improvements to existing crosswalks and a 35-mph speed limit through the main part of Airway Heights. The speed limit currently is 40 mph.

“Those are simply ideas,” Hodges said. “Everything is still at the proposal stage.”

Corridor safety projects along North Division at the Y and on the Division-Ruby section proved successful in reducing collisions, officials said.

Four previous corridor safety projects in Spokane County are believed to have helped reduce crashes so that 139 fewer people were injured than would have been under previous collision rates.

At last count, U.S. Highway 2 was carrying an average of 22,000 vehicles a day.

Traffic volumes are expected to increase by 3 percent a year.