Comstock Panel Seeking Better Traffic Safety Intersection Of Grand Blvd., 37Th A Major Concern In/Around: Comstock

The Comstock Neighborhood Council was one of the last neighborhood councils in the city to earn official recognition from City Hall.

But the neighbors have been busy in the months since, taking up one issue that is important to them - traffic safety.

A traffic committee recently launched a study of the Grand Boulevard corridor from 29th Avenue to High Drive with an eye on the troublesome intersection of 37th and Grand.

The same group also reviewed plans to create a center turn lane on 29th Avenue west of Grand.

Margaret Watson, chairwoman of the neighborhood’s traffic committee, said a survey of Comstock residents pointed to the concern over traffic and pedestrian safety on Grand.

“Probably our top priority is to address the Grand Boulevard corridor,” she said.

The neighborhood council plans to work with other neighborhoods along Grand, school officials, businesses, city traffic engineers and the Spokane Transit Authority to develop safety improvements, she said.

The intersection of 37th and Grand is located on the north end of a curve in Grand, which limits drivers’ ability to see north and south.

The intersection is also adjacent to Jefferson Elementary School and a busy Albertson’s store, so it frequently has pedestrians using it.

Some residents have called for a traffic light at 37th and Grand, but school officials fear a stop light would lead to parents letting their schoolchildren off for classes while stopped at a red light, Watson said.

Another suggestion was to create a four-way stop at 37th and Grand, but city traffic engineers said the higher traffic volumes on Grand compared with 37th make that solution undesirable.

Watson said an idea with some promise is to change the lane configuration on Grand so it has one through vehicle lane in each direction and a middle turn lane.

That kind of configuration is believed to slow speeding traffic so that turns and crossing movements are safer, she said.

“The traffic comes so very quickly,” Watson said of the problem of crossing Grand at 37th.

The Comstock Neighborhood Council was officially recognized by the city earlier this year.