Residents want action on wreck-prone intersection in NW Olympia

Some northwest Olympia residents say unsafe conditions are causing collisions at Division Street and Elliott Avenue.

Suzette Black has lived at the southwest corner of the intersection for about five years and said crashes at the intersection have almost become commonplace. Black estimates that a handful of times a year, she hears “that horrible metal sound” from collisions that are sometimes strong enough to shake her house.

She said the intersection needs a traffic light or similar device to stop or slow down vehicles in both directions. Now, the only stop signs are for vehicles exiting Elliott Avenue.

“I don’t feel unsafe. I just have to pay attention,” said Black, who is careful when turning onto Division Street. “I’ve just kind of learned to accept it.”

The city reports that 10 non-fatal collisions occurred at the intersection from 2013 to 2015. The number so far in 2016 could not be confirmed.

However, a pair of crashes in March have prompted Anne Thom, who lives nearby on Milroy Street, to launch an online petition that asks the city to increase safety at the intersection — whether that means building a roundabout and sidewalks or simply adding stop signs on Division Street.

As of Friday afternoon, 27 people had signed the petition, which notes that “these crashes often involve serious injuries and put pedestrians, people on bikes, persons at bus stops and school children at risk.”

“It just seems so unsafe,” Thom said of the intersection. “I hope the petition provides a little impetus.”

The intersection will get some safety improvements this summer. The city plans to paint new stripes that help “tighten up” the right turn onto Elliott Avenue, said Randy Wesselman, transportation engineering and planning manager.

  

The bike lane on northbound Division Street will be restriped, and city crews will paint a bright white “stop bar” in front of the stop sign on Elliott’s east side.

Wesselman said the city is collecting data on several streets for possible speed limit revisions, including Division Street. One possibility would be to lower the speed limit on Division from 35 mph to 30 mph.

Since 2000, average city traffic counts have fluctuated between 4,000 and 5,000 vehicles passing daily through the intersection on Division Street. Those numbers would unlikely meet the criteria for installing a traffic light, Wesselman said.

That said, city officials plan to look deeper at the causes and severity of vehicle accidents at the intersection.

“We’re examining the collision history at this location,” Wesselman told The Olympian. “We need to look at the circumstances of those collisions.”

The intersection, which includes the now-shuttered Handy Pantry store, has been on the city’s radar for several years. In 2007, the city installed the grassy median at the east entrance of Elliott Avenue to help reduce high-speed turns off Division Street.

Three speed humps also were installed on Elliott Avenue. The city reports that about 85 percent of drivers maintain speeds between 27-29 mph along Elliott Avenue where the speed limit is 25 mph.

Once upon a time, the intersection was much quieter. Barb Chambers has lived in the same house on Elliott Avenue for 40 years and remembers when the area was more farmland than city.

“Division was a quiet road. It’s not anymore,” she said. “People do drive really fast, especially at night.”

Chambers said that over the years, Elliott Avenue has evolved into a key route for accessing Cooper Point Road, West Bay Drive and downtown Olympia. Access to her driveway can be difficult during commuting hours.

She also said more could be done to accommodate pedestrians along Elliott Avenue, which lacks a sidewalk.

“This is an ordeal to walk up this road,” she said.

But the neighborhood is on a long waiting list for a sidewalk.

The city has designated future sidewalk construction on Elliott Avenue from Division Street east to Crestline Boulevard, and on Division Street between Walnut Road north to Elliott. However, sidewalk installation is another matter. Construction is funded by private utility taxes, but also involves an intensive design process before the city can figure out details such as cost and the right-of-way boundaries.

One possible short-term solution is the installation of a path that runs from Division Street to the Garden Raised Bounty (GRuB) office on Elliott Avenue.

“We’re chipping away at the list,” said Sophie Stimson, senior planner for the city, regarding proposed sidewalk projects.

Last month, Wesselman met with the Burbank-Elliott Neighborhood Association to discuss concerns about pedestrian traffic along Elliott Avenue and overall traffic safety at the junction with Division Street.

Despite the delayed construction of sidewalks, the city has been relatively responsive to the neighborhood over the years, said local resident John Newman. With ideal solutions ranging from a four-way stop to warning lights at the intersection, Newman said that in the end, neighbors simply want people to drive more carefully.

“Anything to encourage people to slow down would be valuable,” Newman said. “It’s been an ongoing issue.”

This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Residents want action on wreck-prone intersection in NW Olympia."