Sessions set for public input on 195 safety

The state Department of Transportation is seeking citizen comments and questions about Highway 195 for a collision study. A series of meetings hosted by the DOT has been slated in the county with stops at Rosalia, Colfax and Pullman next week. Called “listening posts”, the sessions are intended to give the public a voice on the safety of the highway.

The project involves the highway segment from Spangle south to the state line outside Uniontown.

The two-lane highway provides a link from Spokane to both the WSU and UI campuses, and the Lewiston/Clarkston Valley. It is a major route for the traffic generated by the county’s ag economy.

The study seeks to “gain a better understanding of the collision characteristics within the US 195 corridor,” according to a press release on the study from the Spokane office of the DOT.

There were 768 collisions in a five-year-period on Highway 195 from Spangle to the Idaho state line, according to data from the Spokane office of the DOT.

Of those 768 collisions, 16 involved fatalities and 291 resulted in an injury. The number one factor in the majority of accidents was speeding, said Al Gilson, spokesman for the DOT. Gilson pointed out there were 266 accidents in which excess speed was a factor.

The DOT data came from accident reports filed by the Washington State Patrol.

“The DOT takes all collision reports from WSP for collision analysis,” said Gilson.

More than 400 of the accidents occurred during dry road conditions and 81 occurred because of collisions with animals.

“My worst year was 2006,” said Washington State Patrol Sgt. Brad Hudson, who heads the agency’s Colfax detachment.

The WSP is the main law enforcement agency for 195 and other state highways in the county.

Hudson said in 2006 his detachment saw 12 fatalities on state highways. Most of the fatalities were on Highway 195 within a four-month time frame.

“What we found was a lot of those fatalities involved crossing the centerline,” Hudson said.

Hudson and the DOT’s Spokane office decided to install rumble-strips down the center of the highway in 2007. Hudson also focused more patrol time on the stretch between Colfax and Pullman. He believes the rumble strips, combined with a heavier patrol presence, have helped.

A local Technical Advisory Committee was formed to help with the study. Locals who are familiar with the highway, such as county and town law officers and emergency medical service volunteers, sit on this committee.

The U.S. 195 Corridor Collision Analysis study comes in step with a state-wide DOT program called the Target Zero program. The state program, which began in 2000, has a goal of systematically eliminating all fatalities and all injuries on state highways by 2030.

For citizens who can’t attend the meetings, comments can also be emailed to the Department of Transportation:

deandn@wsdot.wa.gov