Safer Highway 95 Remains Top Priority

Sun., Dec. 31, 2000

By Ken Sands kens@spokesman.com

Every day, Rocky Watson cruises home from work on U.S. Highway 95. The roadway just south of Coeur d’Alene is four lanes and is relatively safe.

“People get going 60 or 65 on that nice stretch of road,” said the Kootenai County sheriff.

But when they come up over the hill, the highway narrows into a dangerous, winding two-lane road. “And the temperature drops about 5 degrees - I see it all the time.”

As you might expect, Watson also has witnessed a number of accidents between Coeur d’Alene and Mica. Thankfully, that’s one stretch of Highway 95 that is due to be rebuilt soon.

But Watson’s experience illustrates the danger in such “piecemeal” fixes to the notoriously dangerous highway. While it’s great to target the worst stretches of road, the entire highway needs to be modernized.

And here’s why: In 1999, 35 people died on the highway in Idaho. In 2000, 29 people have died. Most of the deaths are due to head-on collisions. The causes range from drunken driving to simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. And while driving safely is the best way to keep from dying on Highway 95, we also know that safe highways save lives.

Much of Highway 95 is not safe. And because of Idaho’s rapid population growth, the traffic safety problems are going to get worse. It’s difficult to imagine a two-lane highway managing the kind of traffic we’re going to see from Lewiston to Sandpoint.

We pointed out these statistics and problems in a series of articles this year. We applaud the Legislature and state Transportation Board for making Highway 95 projects a top priority. The men and women who make these decisions have the best intentions.

And with a large budget surplus expected, now is a good time to talk about spending a lot more money on Highway 95. We’re going to keep pushing for a more permanent solution. The highway - all of it - needs to be four lanes.

Maybe then, we won’t continue to lose promising citizens such as Kathryn “Katey” Soltau, 18, of Coeur d’Alene. Katey died Sept. 5 on Highway 95 eight miles south of Coeur d’Alene when her car rounded a corner and was struck head-on by a utility trailer that had detached from a truck headed in the opposite direction. Katey was on her way to her first day of college.

Her death, like all Highway 95 deaths, is a tragedy. Was it avoidable? Maybe, maybe not. But we shouldn’t be taking the risk.

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