What’s Up With That? Traffic Barrier Solves One Problem, Creates Another

By SCOTT HEWITT

If you live off Northeast Hazel Dell Avenue on 77th Street, this new traffic barrier has made your life tougher.

My wife’s parents reside on Northeast 77th Street, just west of Hazel Dell Avenue. In recent months, with new construction on the east side of Hazel Dell Avenue from 76th to 78th, a traffic divider was installed between the north and south traffic flow on Hazel Dell.

This divider prevents anyone traveling north from turning left onto 77th. Traffic from 77th cannot access Hazel Dell Avenue northbound.

This divider is creating multiple serious traffic hazards and is a great inconvenience to the residents on 77th. It poses problems for the businesses on the west side of Hazel Dell Avenue as well.

The only way for northbound traffic to access 77th is to turn left onto 78th, then left into the private parking lot of the businesses behind the Shell station on the southwest corner of 78th. This poses a serious traffic hazard, as anyone taking this way has to stop for eastbound traffic on 78th, blocking the left lane of westbound traffic.

This divider needs to be opened up so that traffic can enter and leave to and from 77th and northbound Hazel Dell.

– Joseph Noecker

It’s not just folks trying to reach their homes on 77th, Joseph. We know customers of Washington Mutual bank, just north of the spot you mention, are similarly frustrated at the new divider blocking access from the northbound lane.

Sorry about that, county transportation manager Steve Schulte said, but when it comes to balancing convenience against safety, safety wins.

Consider this: 2,130 vehicles pass through the intersection of Hazel Dell Avenue and 78th Street during the peak hour of the morning commute; in the evening, it’s up to 3,200 vehicles. Those counts are as of November 2007, Schulte said.

Construction of that new Hazel Dell Square shopping center involved closing off old driveways that were too close to the intersection and opening a new one farther away, Schulte said. It also meant widening Hazel Dell Avenue and creating two left turn lanes, side by side. That’s called “dual lefts.”

And that kicks in a code requirement. “Whenever we have ‘dual lefts,’ “Schulte said, “we have to put in a raised curb.”

That’s to prevent frustrated drivers from nosing their way into oncoming traffic and then sitting there, blocking the flow, waiting for an opening to break left.

“To keep traffic flowing we have to restrict left-turn movement,” he said.

Which does mean sending some traffic wiggling here and there to get where it’s going, he agreed.

“We sometimes learn we have to drive around the block to get there,” he said. “We learn to adapt to change, and the intersection is safer.”

But what about Joseph’s concern that the county has solved one safety problem, on Hazel Dell Avenue, but created another on 78th Street to the west – where residents of 77th resort to cutting in and out of that parking lot behind the Shell station?

It’s not what you want to hear, Joseph: The county thought about installing a raised curb on 78th too, but decided that the traffic and congestion simply doesn’t warrant it – yet.

“It’s one we’re watching closely,” he said. “It’s likely to probable that at some point in the future we may need to restrict that left turn opportunity also.”

Got a question about your neighborhood? We’ll get it answered. Send “What’s up with that?” questions to neighbors@columbian.com

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Originally published by SCOTT HEWITT.

(c) 2008 Columbian. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.