Nightmare on Ramsey

The engineer who designed the traffic flow on Ramsey Road needs to give the money back, or be fired, and if he has a degree we should find out who his teacher was, and the teacher should be fired.

Maybe this person has never driven a vehicle. It is obvious he has no intelligence at all when it comes to driving safely. This stretch of four-lane travel has to be the most unsafe, worst piece of traffic flow I have ever seen in my life and I am 66 years old. I would be happy to donate my time to the redesign of this stretch of road.

1. Starting at Hanley going south, the high school traffic, traveling north, has a turning lane that fits two cars. My guess is there are probably 500 vehicles making that turn when the teachers and the children are coming to and going home from school. The turning lane is not close to being adequate for the northbound traffic. There is plenty of room to have a turning lane but the engineer decided to put in some grass and trees rather than keeping our children safe.

2. Traveling south to Lake City Community Church that has a parking lot capable of parking approximately 300 cars has no turning lane available, just a 25-foot pass through. If more than two cars are trying to turn, the second car is left out in the traffic. Again, there is plenty of room for a turning lane but the engineer wanted some grass and trees instead.

3. Traveling north turning into Coeur d'Alene Village there is no turning lane. Just a 25-foot gap in the parkway that leaves a car subject to being rear ended while making that turn. Again, there is plenty of room for a turning lane but the engineer had his green fingers stuck in his ear and was unable to think.

4. If you are traveling north on Ramsey and would like to go home and you live at Park Place Apartments, you are taking your life in your own hands. Again, there is no turning lane but plenty of grass and trees for the city to maintain. The fire department and the county building barely have enough room for their traffic flow in that same location.

5. The north parking lot for the ball diamonds on the west side of the road has 56 parking spaces plus three handicap parking places. And their driveway is directly across the street from the dump driveway and the engineer allowed no turning lane backup and only left a space 25 to 30 feet for the southbound traffic flow. There is lots of unused available space that has grass and trees in it.

6. The business, Oxnard, has a 25-foot gap for southbound traffic to try to get across the road with no turning lane access. Again, there is plenty of room to have a turning lane.

7. Ramsey tech building and the police fuel station has a 25-foot gap for the southbound traffic to try to negotiate safely. Again, plenty of room for a turning lane but the engineer would rather have grass for us to maintain.

8. The middle parking lot for the ballpark on the west side of the road has 57 parking spaces with three handicap spaces. The engineer, in his infinite wisdom, decided to leave a 30-foot space for the traffic to come in and out of the parking lot during peak traffic time. There is plenty of room for turning lanes. The engineer who designed this needs to be replaced.

9. The south parking lot at the baseball field has 109 parking spaces plus five handicap spaces with no turning lane backup for the southbound traffic. Anybody who knows anything about ballparks realizes that they are used during peak afternoon traffic hours. Combining all of the parking spaces there are over 200 with no turning lane backup for any of the southbound traffic.

10. And finally, Golf Course Road has a high traffic count with the tract of homes, apartment houses, Senior Assisted Living, UPS, and the Kroc Center all using the corner of Golf Course Road and Ramsey. The southbound traffic has space for approximately five cars with plenty of room available filled with grass and trees.

In conclusion, I would like to invite anyone who feels the same way I do about this terrible engineering feat to speak their mind, sending a message to the road department that they need to remove the person who designed this atrocity, get their money back and fire the person who approved it. Just for the record, I am not associated, affiliated, or friends with any businesses on or near Ramsey Road. Nor do I play ball at the baseball parks. However, I do travel Ramsey Road on a daily basis.

Dennis Decker is a Coeur d'Alene resident.