Voie Commentary: Reduced Speed on Section of State Route 6 is a Welcome Change

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If you haven’t been out state Route 6 lately, you might not have noticed that there’s a new speed zone from the Chevron gas station to just past Hillcrest 76 gas station — down from 55 mph to 45 mph.

As I detailed in a previous column, as a person who lived just a few miles up the hill from the Chilvers Road intersection growing up, I supported a traffic improvement in this area.

There has been so much growth in the Claquato, Littell and Adna area neighborhoods off those arterial roads. It creates a real problem during rush hour and gets worse by the year. Drivers take increasing risks just to get out into the roadway in that cluster of three intersections — Scheuber, Chilvers, and Highway 603.

Today, more than 11,000 vehicles traverse that section of State Route 6 daily on average. That number has climbed several hundred cars per year, according to WSDOT data.

Brian Mittge mentioned in a previous column on the topic that he spoke with WSDOT officials, inquiring about their plans for the area. Mittge reported that he spoke with officials who informed him that they had already been working on plans for the area earlier 2018, at the request of a member of the public.

As of early December, the plan to reduce the speed to 45 mph had been awaiting approval from state officials.

About two weeks after the fatality in December at Chilvers Road and State Route 6 — about a week after Mittge inquired — I happened to be driving out to Adna and passed several county and WSDOT vehicles sitting near the Chevron gas station on Highway 6.

By the time I came back through, the 45 mph signs were up.

In my mind, reducing the speed by 10 mph reduced the risk for a fatality accident. Numerous studies show the statistical increase of injury or death in a vehicle accident as speed increases.

I was surprised by all the skepticism from my friends, and I also was kind of curious myself about the process and how WSDOT decides to implement these changes. So, made a couple of phone calls.

I ended up getting in contact with a Traffic Operations Engineer for the southwest Washington region and picking his brain a little bit about the topic.

“When it comes to speed, there are tons of studies about what’s effective,” said Dave Burkey of WSDOT.

Burkey explained that WSDOT had been looking at a number of factors before implementing the new speed zone.



“The roadway (at Chilvers Road) is particularly wide ... there’s good lighting ... it’s well-striped,” he continued, explaining that over the years WSDOT had looked at things that improve safety across the board on the thousands of miles of roads and highways they oversee and maintain.

This is when Burkey talked about the “geometrics of the roadway,” in other words, a fancy way of saying that people drive the speed they’re most comfortable with, given the road and conditions, etc., often regardless of posted signs.

“So, we do speed studies,” said Burkey.

Burkey explained that when changes like this new speed zone are implemented, that WSDOT will reach out to partners like Washington State Patrol and (in this case) the Lewis County  Sheriff’s Office to help educate the public about new speed zones, WSDOT also has offered to engage community on the topic, welcoming feedback and comments.

Burkey also indicated that there will be a follow-up study on the new speed zone — are people honoring it? Is the new speed zone shaping new behavior? The follow-up study will measure behavior after-the-fact and evaluate for additional ways to reduce speed if necessary.

Currently, WSDOT doesn’t have any firm plans on what they might implement if the new speed zone isn’t effective at reducing speed. When I asked Burkey what WSDOT might do, he listed a few possible options.

“More guideposts or additional delineators are possible. We’re in the middle of trying to figure out exactly what would be the best fit (in that case) … it could include reconfiguring turn lanes,” Burkey mused.

But he was careful to note that anything WSDOT looks at as far as additional changes will depend on the results of the follow-up traffic study.

So, hopefully, the new posted speed zone slows people down. I drive that stretch of road at least a couple of times each week — I have yet to see any law enforcement “educating” drivers, so hopefully that means the speed zone is having its intended effect.

But, ultimately, I think additional changes will be inevitable at for that stretch of highway.

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Brittany Voie is a columnist for The Chronicle. She lives south of Chehalis with her husband and two young sons. She welcomes correspondence from the community at voiedevelopment@comcast.net.