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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Crossroad in crosshairs about barrier

Couple want barriers to protect property at Eighth, Carnahan

Michael and Michelle Yarbrough have lived at the corner of Eighth Avenue and Carnahan Road in Spokane Valley for 20 years. Cars have crashed through their chain link fence into their yard several times. (Jesse Tinsley)

Michelle Yarbrough was in the shower when a minivan drove through her garden and smashed into the garage just outside her front door.

Only a few minutes earlier she’d been out in the large garden she cultivates with her husband Michael Yarbrough.

“At least I was safe,” Michelle Yarbrough said sitting in her living room on Friday.

The Yarbroughs’ house is on the northeast corner of Carnahan Road and Eighth Avenue in Spokane Valley. The intersection is a four-way stop, yet during the last decade the couple’s fence and property have been hit seven times by drivers coming off Carnahan Hill.

The wreck on May 14 last year was especially violent.

The Chevy van flew across the intersection and flattened the couple’s chain link fence before hitting two cars in the driveway. It then plowed through the garage door and pushed a car parked there into a second car in the garage. A metal pole broke off and stuck in another nearby vehicle.

Sheriff’s reports state that the driver, 63-year-old Paul Chavez – who had a blood alcohol level of 0.23 – managed to damage five vehicles, the garage, the fence and a water line used for irrigation.

He also permanently damaged the Yarbrough’s sense of safety in their front yard.

On Feb. 10, Michelle Yarbrough went to the Spokane Valley City Council meeting where she told council members that the city has an obligation to do something about the intersection.

“I would like for a barrier to be placed on our corner,” Michelle Yarbrough told the council, adding that it’s becoming harder for the couple to obtain insurance. “Our insurance company will not keep us unless something’s done.”

It’s a busy intersection; the traffic includes big trucks coming from a nearby gravel pit and buses.

“They drive too fast through here, and they don’t stop,” Michelle Yarbrough said.

South of Eighth Avenue, Carnahan narrows significantly but still is considered an arterial.

“We want that designation to go away,” Michelle Yarbrough said. “The street is entirely too narrow to be an arterial.”

Part of the problem with the intersection is that Carnahan is misaligned. When headed north on Carnahan, the route jags slightly to the west at Eighth Avenue.

Spokane Valley senior traffic engineer Sean Messner said a line has been painted through the intersection to help drivers stay in the appropriate lanes.

“That intersection is very awkward, with a big rock on one corner and a house on top of the rock,” Messner said.

He visited with the Yarbroughs soon after the crash, and said he understands why they worry about traffic.

Messner said he hopes to be able to move Jersey barriers to the Carnahan intersection once construction continues on the Appleway Trail project.

The Yarbrough’s would welcome that.

“We just want to be able to feel safe in our front yard again,” Michelle Yarbrough said.