Neighbors and Vancouver City Council members expressed concern about street changes after a backup Monday morning that motorists say stretched 12 blocks from the intersection of Southeast 34th and 164th streets.
The city recently removed one of two car lanes in each direction to create a lane for pedestrians and cyclists, and changed dual left-turn lanes to a single left-turn lane as part of a project to improve safety and mobility on Southeast 34th Street between Southeast 162nd and 192nd avenues. But the change has caused confusion for commuters, said Justin Wood, who lives off 34th Street.
“The Monday traffic definitely made everybody late because that was a 10-minute backup that nobody was expecting,” Wood said.
A crash on state Highway 14 that morning made the traffic even worse. It’s common for traffic to back up in the right lane of southbound 164th Avenue approaching the onramp when a crash occurs on the highway, Wood said.
“It was a routine fender bender,” he said. “In the 25 years I’ve lived there, I’ve seen bad accidents on 14, and I’ve never seen it back up on the 34th. … Is that going to be the new normal anytime there’s an accident on 14?”
City councilors discussed the issue at Monday night’s council meeting, citing messages from concerned constituents.
Councilor Bart Hansen said he’d like to see more data measuring the success of the street change.
“When we discussed this earlier, it was something that we were going to look at. We were going to make sure it worked and that it was something that would keep traffic flowing,” Hansen said.
Councilor Diana Perez said she believes the Washington State Department of Transportation’s construction on state Highway 14 contributes to the backup. She said the city should assess the success of the street changes after the construction is finished to get a clearer picture.
“I think we’ve already surpassed the patience limit of that construction in that area,” Perez said.
Wood said he attended Monday’s city council meeting in hopes of speaking during the public comment period, but he learned he could only address topics on the agenda.
He said he wanted to suggest the city simply create a combination middle lane allowing people to go straight or turn left from Southeast 34th Street to 164th Avenue. On Monday, people were illegally turning left from the lane going straight, he said.
“Every fifth car from the center lane is still turning left. Even though it’s not marked that way, they’re just doing it,” Wood said. “Now are they doing it out of protest or are they doing it because they just don’t notice? I don’t know.”
Adding a second left-turn lane would make it easier for people to get into the far right lane to enter Highway 14, because people are supposed to turn into the left-most lane when turning left under Washington law.
“If you do what you’re supposed to do legally, that puts you in a situation where you have to get across three lanes in 1,000 feet,” Wood said. “It’s creating a situation where it’s not safe.”
