BULLETIN: Some good traffic news

Think of your most furious curse word.

Go for the Grade A scream that’s delivered red-faced and very much as though you’re steaming and angry at the world.

Now then …

Let me guess that at some time, on some awful day, you’ve unleashed that furious phrase while sitting in your car at the corner of Northwest Boulevard and Ironwood Drive — the street which, of course, becomes west Seltice Way on the left side of that spot where you’re stuck.

The intersection is a mess going in any direction, but it’s really frustrating if you’re driving north.

See, there is a left-turn lane for people aiming to get on Seltice. But you also find an optional lane, from which drivers can make that left turn or simply head straight.

Because of that maybe-yes, maybe-no type of lane, Coeur d’Alene’s traffic planners haven’t been able to install what are called “split-phasing” signal lights at the intersection.

That’s a huge deal.

And it causes a huge problem.

“Just 15 or 20 seconds of green at that light can mean 40 cars going through,” said Tim Martin, the city’s director of streets and engineering.

“At busy times of day, those extra cars clearing Ironwood and Seltice could prevent the long back-ups we have now.”

Maybe there’s just something about Seltice Way that haunts the city planners.

In addition to the nightmare logjam at Northwest Boulevard, there are two relatively new roundabouts on Seltice — at Atlas Road and Mill River Way.

Both of them startle drivers who encounter them for the first time. The surprise is that the roundabouts begin with the street veering left before you make the full right-hand circle.

A common response might be: “Huh?”

“That slight turn to the left is called a chicane,” Martin said. “The idea is to slow drivers down a bit as they start to enter the roundabout.”

Here’s some bar-bet knowledge at no charge: Just about the only other place you’ll see chicanes would be on auto road-racing courses. Drivers have to handle chicanes at top speed — then adjust without landing a mile off the asphalt.

GREAT NEWS is pretty rare in stories about traffic problems, but hey, we aim to please.

We try not to feed you downers.

So …

Martin actually has something neat to share with everyone who has cursed the maddening back-ups on Northwest.

“In the next 10 days or two weeks, we’re going to begin work on that Ironwood/Seltice intersection,” Martin said.

Blow up the whole thing, maybe?

Nah, the city can’t do that, but working jointly with the Idaho Transportation Department, they will be able to speed up traffic on Northwest.

“We’re going to change that extra lane, and make it a straight-only lane,” Martin said. “We’ll still have one dedicated left-turn lane to Seltice, but everything else will be through-traffic only.”

Drum roll for the punchline …

“We can install split-phasing lights,” Martin said. “There will be a lot more time with green for Northwest Boulevard, and a lot fewer drivers will get jammed up.”

Good stuff.

Bouquets to the city planners and engineers.

Now …

If only the state can paint some directional arrows on all those lanes headed up to Northwest from eastbound I-90.

It would save a lot of tourists’ blood pressure spikes.

Still, one thing at a time, eh?

That green light up the hill might actually cause motorists to cheer the city.

Until the next complaint, of course.

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Steve Cameron is a columnist for The Press.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com.

Twitter: @BrandNewDayCDA