Eye on 95

COEUR d’ALENE — As Don Davis has monitored the traffic and crash statistics along U.S. 95 in Coeur d’Alene and Hayden, he has noted some relief in recent years.

But the Idaho Transportation Department senior planner is also not taking his eyes off the data.

Davis has watched traffic and crash statistics taper in recent years since the 2005 boom and he said that’s a good thing, especially with highway project funding still difficult to come by.

“We are watching closely to see if something out of the ordinary happens or if we get a hot spot,” Davis said. “But we’re at 2,000 less vehicles per day than we were in 2005. It’s a pretty static situation right now.”

Davis said no major projects are planned in the next five years in the corridor due to the lack of funding.

The traffic count on U.S. 95 just north of Haycraft Avenue in Coeur d’Alene rose to an average of 34,293 per day in 2005. The total number of crashes in the corridor from Appleway Avenue to Highway 53 also increased to 200 that year.

Those alarming numbers prompted the Idaho Transportation Board in 2006 to consider closing median crossings along U.S. 95 where there are no signals. The proposal drew opposition from some businesses.

Before taking action, the transportation board asked the Kootenai Metropolitan Planning Organization to explore the impacts of such closures and seek ways to improve mobility. The request led to the $113,000 U.S. 95 access study in 2006, funded by the KMPO, the ITD and the City of Coeur d’Alene.

The study recommendations include 35 access improvements for 22 intersections that have a total estimated cost of $6.7 million. This includes adding and removing traffic signals, adding turn lanes and restricting turning movements in the corridor. For example, the plan at Canfield Avenue — which runs between Target and the Silver Lake Mall — is to remove the signal and add turn restrictions.

Davis said no full median closures are planned.

The study evaluated low-cost strategies to manage and balance access to U.S. 95 from adjacent streets while improving the flow of traffic and safety in the corridor.

“The U.S. 95 access project was conducted to identify a series of stand-alone projects that could be implemented over time to improve the overall operating efficiency in the corridor,” said Glenn Miles, KMPO executive director. “I believe most everyone understood that, given limited transportation funding at the local and state levels, these projects would be initiated as opportunities presented themselves.”

Projects shelved

Davis said the recommendations are still valid and on the table, but unless numbers spike again they won’t likely rise to the high priority list anytime soon.

After jumping in 2005 during the peak of the booming economy, the number of crashes ranged from a nine-year low of 78 last year to 170 in 2007. The traffic volume has also tapered since 2005, ranging from an average of 29,405 vehicles per day in 2008 to 32,992 in 2006.

Davis acknowledges that U.S. 95 remains a busy corridor and with heavy traffic comes a higher likelihood of accidents.

Since 2005 there have been a total of 1,254 accidents, resulting in two fatalities and 978 injuries.

But, with the leveling of the statistics, the urgency for improvement projects has also eased.

Davis said a project priority list in the corridor hasn’t been developed.

“The funding hasn’t been there to take on a project and, since priorities change based on crashes and other factors, it doesn’t make sense to do a priority list now,” he said. “If you don’t have money to chase after a project, a priority list has very little value.”

Davis believes the statistics along U.S. 95 mirror a direct correlation to the economy and increased gas prices. During the building boom is when traffic and resulting crashes peaked. During the recession — and as gas prices rose — is when the numbers leveled off.

In a recovering economy, however, the traffic count rose to 32,425 last year, the highest it has been since 2006.

That, along with development possibilities in the corridor, are why planners are continuing to keep a close eye on 95.

Wilbur extension envisioned

One of the first streets in the corridor that could be further developed is along Wilbur. The vacant, heavily wooded site between Target and the Coeur d’Alene Memorial Gardens cemetery, often occupied by the homeless population, is for sale.

Gordon Dobler, City of Coeur d’Alene engineer, said the city eventually hopes to extend that portion of Wilbur too, but the project is not on the city’s five-year plan.

“We had hoped to include construction of Wilbur with the reconstruction of Government Way,” Dobler said. “However, a shortage of funding for the project resulted in its removal. There are no plans to pursue construction of Wilbur with federal aid dollars at this time.”

Dobler said conceptual alignments have been completed and discussed with adjacent property owners.

“There would be a potential for a signal on Government Way when Wilbur is constructed and the state has indicated that they would construct a signal on U.S. 95 when Wilbur is built,” Dobler said.

The traffic signals are envisioned in the access study.

Dobler said a construction date for the road extension is undetermined.

“This project competes for impact fee funding with other projects that have a higher priority,” he said.

Dobler said the most likely scenario for constructing the Wilbur extension is if future development dictates it.

“If the traffic impacts of development are significant, they would be required to construct Wilbur,” he said.

Adaptive signal timing

The last major project performed in the corridor to improve traffic mobility was adding signals at Wyoming Avenue three years ago.

However, with funding for expanding capacity of the highway elusive at this time, adaptive signal timing technology has been added the past two years to intersections from Appleway to Wyoming to improve traffic flow.

“It is working well, giving the side streets good access to U.S. 95 while not reducing the green time and through traffic flow on U.S. 95,” Davis said. “Actually, the overall travel time through the length of U.S. 95 has been reduced a few seconds since the adaptive timing has been used.”

Vendor Northwest Signal is piloting the project and provided the engineering and implementation of the technology. The company will leave the system with ITD when its testing work is complete.

“(The system) has the ability to integrate and interpret traffic flow information in real time between traffic signals both on U.S. 95 and the intersecting side streets,” Miles said. “The signal timing software can then ‘adapt’ the signal timing to reduce overall delay.”

Until the ongoing hurdle of limited highway funds being available is solved, Davis said, low-cost improvements such as the signal project will be pursued to improve traffic flow.

Idaho relies on federal tax money to trickle back to the state to perform many highway improvements.

“The problem is that every year the amount collected for fuel taxes drops because cars are more efficient and miles driven are still down,” Davis said. “So we’re not getting as much money each year and the cost of the improvements is going up. If you put those together, you end up with less projects regardless of safety or capacity issues.”

Davis said some states have passed state fuel tax increases to make up for the shortfall. He said it’s too early to tell if Idaho will follow suit.

“It’s a topic of discussion with our director and financial people,” he said. “There needs to be a serious discussion nationwide on registration fees and fuel taxes in states.”