No more stopping for lights: Highway 500 safety project work complete

For roadwork, the project was relatively cheap — less than $1 million, Greenwell said, mainly because the shoulders were wide enough to accommodate the merging and diverging lanes without any added paving.

“We didn’t have to build out the highway, which saves a lot of money,” Greenwell said.

The project should reduce collisions, particularly rear-endings, on one of the most crash-prone stretches in Clark County. WSDOT reports that 396 crashes have been recorded near the two intersections over the last five years, an average of about 1.5 crashes per week. Three-quarters of those crashes were rear-enders due to traffic volume and driver inattention, according to WSDOT.

The new traffic layout is expected to cut down crashes in the area by 70 percent.

“Taking the lights out on (Highway) 500 increases safety, because you’re reducing people starting and stopping,” Greenwell said. That’s especially true during peak commuting hours, she added, because queues to get through the stoplights could back up to over a half-mile. Drivers expecting a free-flowing corridor that far ahead of the lights would often slam on their brakes, increasing the likelihood of crashes.

As of Tuesday afternoon, two days after the highway reopened, no collisions had been reported on the stretch of roadway.

“That said, we’re not going to take one day (of data),” Greenwell said. “We’ll keep monitoring it and checking it. Our traffic management center is constantly keeping an eye on the traffic flow and making adjustments as needed.”

What about pedestrians?

While safer for drivers, the new layout means that pedestrians and bicyclists will no longer be able cross the roadway at Northeast 54th Avenue/Stapleton Road. They can still cross the pedestrian bridge at Northeast 42nd Avenue/Falk Road, as well as at St. Johns Boulevard and at Northeast Andresen Road.

Upon hearing that the new layout would cut off access for cyclists and walkers, a few neighborhood associations urged the Clark County Council to intervene. Leadership from the Truman, East Minnehaha and Roads End neighborhoods also wrote letters to the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union, arguing that the new layout disproportionately affected people with disabilities and forced them to detour more than a mile from their regular route.

The initial plan for Highway 500 included another pedestrian bridge. By doing the project piecemeal, neighborhood leadership argued, WSDOT let down pedestrians who won’t see their crossing restored for years.

“Our suggestion for a better solution would be to wait and do a complete project when all funding is secured,” the letter reads. “This would ensure the safety of all concerned.”

Greenwell said there’s money identified in the “10-year plan” for the additional pedestrian bridge, which is projected to start in earnest in 2023.

Upon announcing the highway closure via social media and travel advisories, Greenwell said she heard further consternation from residents.

“There was some feedback from folks who live in the area who were still concerned about the timing for when a pedestrian structure would be built,” she said.

In the meantime, WSDOT has partnered with C-Tran to establish a free, temporary shuttle that will transport people, who currently rely on the crosswalk, between the north and south sides of Highway 500 at Northeast Stapleton Road/Northeast 54th Avenue.

Riders must reserve a spot on the shuttle at least 24 hours in advance by calling 360-695-0123.

The shuttle runs from 6 a.m. to 9:10 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 7:10 p.m. weekends. On the north side of Highway 500, the shuttle will pick up riders in the 4000 block of Northeast 54th Avenue, near Roads End Neighborhood Park. On the south side of the highway, riders should wait at bus stop No. 689 in the 2800 block of Stapleton Road.

Buses will pick up passengers by request based on an hourly schedule. The shuttle can accommodate wheelchairs but not bicycles.