This Tri-Cities intersection is getting changed after 9 crashes already this year
Kennewick is changing a traffic light at a busy intersection after a series of left-hand turns ended with wrecked cars.
City crews arrived at the intersection of South Steptoe Street and West Clearwater Avenue Wednesday morning to change the flashing yellow left turn arrow. Now, everyone wanting to make a left will need to wait until they get a green light.
City officials plan have the change completed by Thursday.
There have been nine crashes at the intersection since the beginning of the year.
Intersections start to become a concern when they have 10 crashes in a year, Sgt. Matt Newton previously told the Herald.
Most of the accidents at the intersection were similar to one that happened on May 8 in which a man driving a pickup truck east on Clearwater Avenue paused at the yellow flashing arrow and then proceeded to make a left turn. What that driver didn’t realize was an SUV was entering the intersection along Steptoe, and the two vehicles collided.
Two crashes at the intersection happened because of winter weather, but most happened when people entered the intersection while making left turns when it was unsafe to do so.
Eliminating guesswork
The change in the turn light is aimed at eliminating the human element of guessing whether it is safe to make the turn, said Kennewick Transportation Manager Sorin Juster. Now, if people crash at the intersection, they obviously went then they shouldn’t have.
“We always look at the causes of the accidents, and for obvious flaws in the design,” he said. “We wanted to control some of that human behavior, so we studied taking out the flashing yellow.”
Juster acknowledged concerns that several people expressed about the hill leading into the intersection, but he said it is within safety standards and doesn’t appear to be contributing to most of the crashes.
The change won’t require city crews to pull the traffic light. Instead they’ll be able to do most of the work by rewiring the existing lights.
This story was originally published May 29, 2019 at 12:30 PM.