ARLINGTON – If you’re one of many frustrated motorists caught in the traffic backup on 172nd Street NE heading home east for the day, Arlington is moving ahead with a change that could help ease the pain.
The City Council adopted a new law Jan. 17 that will ban left-hand turns to and from 172nd Street NE/Highway 531 into Weston High School and the Stillaguamish Athletic Club, while restricting turns from the same access point onto 172nd St. to right only.
The busy state highway and key link between I-5 and Highway 9 sees average daily traffic volumes ranging from 23,000 vehicles east of 43rd Avenue to 17,000 west of 67th.
Arlington Public Works Director Jim Kelly said traffic congestion during peak hours typically causes backups approaching the Arlington Airport runway protection zone on the west in the morning and on the east in the afternoon as traffic patterns are heaviest westbound toward I-5 in the morning and eastbound toward Arlington in the afternoon.
Kelly pointed to a Level of Service “E” or “F” during the evening peak hour at the intersections of 43rd, 51st, 59th and 67th, with average vehicle delays of 121, 124, 85 and 60 seconds, respectively. In transportation parlance, “E” and “F” levels are as bad as it gets for drivers.
Ideally, officials hope that more motorists going to Weston and the athletic club, especially during peak times, will use routes such as 51st, 43rd and Airport Boulevard to enter 172nd in a direction that only requires right turns to get in and out of the facilities.
Improving safety is another key goal for posting the no-turn signs, because the span of 172nd from 43rd to 67th has a notorious collision history. A 2010 Highway 531 Corridor Study completed by WSDOT and the city identified 186 collisions between 43rd and 67th from 2003–2007. More recent data indicates that there have been 255 collisions from 2010–2014, an increase of 37 percent.
Kelly said many of the collisions are rear-end accidents caused by backups or left turning traffic stopping in the through lane waiting for gaps in opposing traffic. Collisions happened more frequently during afternoon peak hours than at other times of the day.
Mayor Barb Tolbert said the city worked with property owners to discuss measures to reduce traffic congestion. “We’ll see how well the signs are enforced,” Kelly said. He told the council that if the signage doesn’t do the trick, installation of a “pork chop,” or raised, triangular barrier island, could be considered. Kelly said the signage could be installed at the end of January, or early February.
Construction to widen SR 531 to four lanes between 43rd and 67th is set to start in 2019.
In anticipation of road construction changes ahead, public work in 2009 built an access road, 173rd St. NE that connects Weston and the athletic club with Airport Boulevard, providing safer access to SR 531.
Mayor Barb Tolbert said, “This change is an effort by the city to increase safety and mobility in the SR 531 corridor as we await the completion of the widening project.
