Spokane County Traffic Safety Commission

The North Division Street Corridor project officially began on Thursday, June 29, 1999. The project was referred to as the "D Zone Traffic Watch". The project officially ended on December 31, 1996.

The North Division\Hwy 2\Mt. Spokane Road Corridor is a 10.4 mile multi-lane principal arterial extending North from Interstate 90 to Newport Highway and then to the Mount Spokane Highway (SR206). The majority of this section is bordered by individual businesses and shopping malls. It is a primary commuting and commercial corridor carrying an average of 33,000 vehicles per day.

During a recent three-year period (7/1/91 - 6/30/94), 1,981 collisions occurred on this section, with 62 of those crashes resulting in fatalities or disabling injuries. Rear end, entering at an angle and driveway-related collisions are the most common, with following too close and failure to yield right-of-way being the chief causes of those crashes. Among the fatal and disabling injury collisions, vehicle, pedestrian and bicyclist conflicts emerge as a significant safety issue.

The North Spokane County Traffic Safety Project covers a network of roadways consisting of two parallel state routes and several intersecting county roadways.

The project area extends from the point that Hastings/Farwell intersects SR 395 & US 2, to the Pend Orielle County line on US 2 and to the Stevens County line of SR 395. The project also covers the principal county roads which connect and border the two state routes. The daily traffic load on each of the two state routes is characterized by increasingly heavy commuter traffic twice daily, mixed with commercial truck traffic. There is a projected 37% increase in heavy truck traffic on SR 395 over the next 8 years. Heavy trucks also utilize the intersecting county roads extensively. There is also significant year round recreational traffic to lakes, mountains and ski resorts in the area.

During the two-year period 1994-1995, 278 crashes occurred on the two sections of state routes. During that same time period, 119 crashes occurred on the principal county roads which lie in the project area. This is a total of 397 crashes, or an average of 3.82 vehicle crashes per week. Eight of those crashes resulted in fatalities. The most serious types of crashes in the area are opposite direction and rear end collisions. Failure-to-yield, following too close, driving under the influence, improper passing, disregarding signals and excessive speed are the primary causes of the majority of serious crashes in this area.

The Hwy 2/Airway Heights Traffic Safety Corridor consists of 15.7 miles of State Highway. It extends from a point at the I-90 exit to Airway Heights continuing west to the Lincoln County line. The traffic load is comprised of commute and local traffic as well as through traffic associated with the extensive agricultural areas to the west.

Available data indicates that 143 crashes occured during the three-year period 1997-1999. Five (3%) of those crashes involved fatalities or disabling injuries. The morning commute (6:00am - 7:00pm), noon, and the afternoon commute hours (4:00pm - 5:00pm) are the peak crash periods. However, all five of the known fatal and disabling injury crashes occurred between 5:00pm and 7:00pm. Rear-End, Enter at Angle and Driveway Related are the three leading types of crashes. All three occur at rates higher than for similar highways in the region. Rear-End crashes occur at a rate of 24% above the average. Enter at Angle collisions occur 23% above average and Driveway Related crashes occur 42% above the average for the region. Historical data (1994-1996) indicates that Failure to Yeild and Following Too Close was a cause of crashes 213% more often than the average for the region. During the same period, Driving While Under the Influence was the cause of fatal and disabling injury crashes twice as often as for the rest of the region. Eighty-five (85%) of the crashes on this section of highway involve local drivers who live within 15 miles of the scene of the crash.

Background - Representatives from various, city, county and state agencies began meeting in May 1991, to look at traffic safety issues on Trent Avenue. The group reviewed collision statistics on Trent and brainstormed improvements that could possible be made.

A draft proposal was written which included plans from engineering, law enforcement, emergency medical services and education. The plan was presented at a public forum on February 4, 1992 and public comments were received. A final plan was adapted and implementation began in July 1992. The project ended in June, 1992.

At the time of the project the following description was distributed in a workplan - SR290 is a 13 mile stretch of road extending from Division Street (SR2) to Barker Road bounded by the railroad on the south. It is a main corridor for emergency vehicle traffic. The stretch of road has 398 businesses. SR 290 is a heavy commute corridor with Kaiser and the Spokane Industrial Park. From 1988-1991 there were 811 collisions wich included 7 fatalities and 597 injuries. The leading contributors of collisions have been speed, failure to yeild, following too close and driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. Rear-end collisions have been the largest type of collisions followed by entering at angle collisions and hitting fixed object collisions.