Many Drivers Take Argonne To Avoid Trains

Sat., May 27, 2000

By Trinity Hartman trinityh@spokesman.com

People in the Valley don’t like to wait for trains.

Need proof?

Check out the crowding on Argonne Road these days as drivers try to avoid getting stuck at railroad crossings.

“A lot of people come through there (Argonne) because they don’t want to wait for trains at the other crossings,” said county program development engineer Jim Haines.

The county estimates that traffic has increased from 28,000 to 40,000 cars a day since the completion of the Argonne underpass in 1996.

Bypassing railroad crossings to the east and west of Argonne would alleviate much of the traffic congestion there, Haines said.

“It’s all based on delay. If you have a certain amount of delay that’s unacceptable, people will take a different route,” he said.

The Argonne BNSF crossing used to be a major source of rail collisions in the county. From 1985 until the underpass opened, there were 17 train-car collisions there.

“That’s why we like to have the grade separations,” said assistant county engineer Ross Kelley.

More underpasses or overpasses would mean even fewer accidents, he said.

The engineering consulting firm CM2H Hill, which worked on the design of the Argonne underpass, has been chosen by the Spokane Regional Transportation Council to do the Bridging the Valley study.

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