Vern Elder of Edmonds contacted Street Smarts with a concern about signal timing at 220th Street SW and 76th Avenue W.
Especially during the evening rush hour, eastbound traffic on 220th “gets an extremely long green light while westbound traffic backs up all the way to Highway 99 and even at times causes congestion at the Highway 99 and 220th Street SW intersection because westbound traffic is stopped for blocks away at the intersection of the 76th Avenue West signal.”
Better synchronization seems in order, Elder noted.
Edmonds traffic engineer Bertrand Hauss is familiar with the intersection. He went out there to check the timing on the signal — specifically, how much green-light time it gives — and confirmed it was working properly.
The long-term solution is to bring more efficiency by having opposing movement go concurrently, Hauss said. That is, left turns in both eastbound and westbound directions would go at the same time, followed by through traffic. To do that, however, the city needs to widen the roadways.
“We don’t have the money for that right now,” Hauss said. The city applied for a grant, didn’t get it, and is applying again. The $4.5 million project is part of its six-year Transportation Improvement Plan. “It’s not a cheap one.”
A short-term solution could involve wiring the two intersections in order to get signal coordination. Right now, if you get a green light at Highway 99 and 220th, “it’s just luck if you get a green ball at 76th as well,” Hauss said.
Local funds could possibly be used this year to make that improvement.
No decisions have been made yet.
Vern says he’ll be among those watching and waiting.
Have a question? Email us at streetsmarts@heraldnet.com. Please include your name and city of residence. Look for updates on our Street Smarts blog.
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