WSDOT testing ideas for troublesome Sultan intersection

The Washington State Department of Transportation will implement changes at the intersection of Old Owen/Fern Bluff roads and U.S. 2 in the hopes of improving the flow of traffic in the Sultan area. 

WSDOT Northwest Region Administrator Lorena Eng and Area Traffic Engineer Miguel Gavino attended the Sultan City Council meeting on Thursday, Oct. 27, to present the proposal and address pre-submitted resident comments. 

The Old Owen/Fern Bluff Road/U.S. 2 intersection, located just inside the western Sultan city limits near the Red Apple Market, becomes heavily clogged during times of high traffic, particularly when stop-and-go conditions exist on U.S. 2. 

During heavy congestion, travelers will detour U.S. 2 by traveling on Old Owen Road, a rural two-lane roadway north of the highway that connects to Monroe. 

Other eastbound traffic will avoid congestion by turning south at the western end of lower Fern Bluff Road, using the two-lane residential street to jump ahead of cars sitting on U.S. 2. Eastbound travelers bypassing U.S. 2 on either Old Owen or lower Fern Bluff all end up at the same place; connecting back to U.S. 2 at the Old Owen/Fern Bluff intersection. 

This causes significant challenges for local area residents, who find their streets so clogged by weekend travelers they are unable to go anywhere.

Sultan resident Bill Praegner lives at Cherry Hill Mobile Estates, east of Old Owen Road near the Red Apple. He told the council that sometimes during a holiday weekend he’s unable to leave his residence due to the high volume of eastbound travelers blocking the entrance to his complex. 

“If I had to get out for an emergency, I couldn’t get out,” Praegner said. 

During WSDOT’s presentation, Eng addressed comments and gave councilmembers and guests a glimpse at the history of safety improvements on U.S. 2. Comments received by residents included inquiries into the possibility of installing a roundabout at Old Owen/Fern Bluff and U.S. 2, which Eng explained is part of the WSDOT’s long range plan; there is currently no funding for it. 

She referenced a route development plan crafted in early 2000, which positioned roundabouts along the U.S. 2 corridor, including one at Old Owen and Fern Bluff.

“Obviously we haven’t received the funding to make all the major improvements on U.S. 2, so that project is within our long range plan but it isn’t planned in the near future,” Eng said.     

Other commenters asked about the possibility of closing the west end of lower Fern Bluff Road in order to prevent travelers from using it as a bypass. Eng said that during a safety study that began in 2008, WSDOT considered the closure of lower Fern Bluff Road at the west end, but there were community objections, so they tabled the proposal. 

It’s something they can look at in the future, she said, as there are improvements coming down the pike. 

“We did receive a gas tax increase in 2015,” Eng said. “We call it the Connecting Washington package, and in that package is $17 million slated for U.S. 2 for safety improvements.”

The funds provided in the Connecting Washington package will not be available until 2019, so they’re still a couple years out. WSDOT intends to work with the U.S. 2 Safety Coalition and collect feedback from area residents during the planning phase, to get a better idea of what safety improvements are the highest priority. The closure of lower Fern Bluff Road at the west end is something that could be considered at that time, Eng said, along with other safety improvements. 

By 2019, it will have been more than a decade since WSDOT received a significant allotment of funding for safety improvements on U.S. 2. There was a $10 million allocation of funds in 2008 that was used to complete several safety improvement projects between Monroe and Gold Bar, Eng said. 

“If you remember, we constructed several two-way left-turn lanes, so people aren’t sitting in the middle of the through-lane waiting to make a left into a driveway or a side street, as well as the Rice Road roundabout at the other end of Sultan,” Eng said. 

She said she is hopeful they will be able to accomplish similar projects with the 2019 funding. 

In the interim, Gavino outlined the timing changes they plan to implement at Old Owen and Fern Bluff, in hopes of helping traffic flow better. Under current weekday commute conditions, the stoplight operates on a two-minute cycle for east and westbound traffic on U.S. 2. From Friday afternoon through Sunday, it operates on a 3 1/2-minute cycle. 

In the north and southbound direction, the light operates on a 30-second cycle, which is shared by both north and southbound traffic. Gavino said the difficulty there is that when there is a high volume of northbound traffic turning right at the light from lower Fern Bluff Road, it causes a backup of the southbound Old Owen travelers trying to turn left at the light to travel east.

They have a change that will hopefully alleviate that, he said.  

“What we’re going to do is first provide a green signal for both north/south, as we provide them today, for 10 seconds,” Gavino said. “The rest of the 20 seconds we’re going to shut off the northbound movement on lower Fern Bluff and provide the 20 seconds for the southbound movement.”

Since the majority of the north and southbound traffic is southbound traffic turning left, the change will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Councilmember Rocky Walker asked Gavino if they had considered the possibility that the northbound Fern Bluff travelers will make right-hand turns anyway, regardless of what color the light is. Gavino acknowledged the concern, which had already been raised by another community member, who suggested the installation of a “no turn on red” sign. He said WSDOT’s plan is to take things one step at a time; they will implement the change and then observe the intersection after it’s been implemented. 

As a rule, if a driver is faced with a red light, they must yield the right of way to opposing traffic, Gavino said. If they determine through observation that’s not occurring, they will consider the installation of a no turn on red sign, he said.  

In addition to the timing of the light, they are considering a lane reconfiguration that would allow them the flexibility to provide southbound left-hand turn access at times when there is a train. Currently during railroad preemption, only east and westbound traffic is served. With the reconfiguration, southbound left- and right-turn traffic could be accommodated as well. 

Gavino said WSDOT hopes to implement the plan within about three months. 

Councilmembers Jeffrey Beeler and John Seehuus are both on the U.S. 2 Safety Coalition Board of Directors, Seehuus as a founding member. On behalf of the council and the coalition, he urged Eng and Gavino to consider the closure of the west end of lower Fern Bluff Road. It’s one of the things the coalition feels very strongly about, he said. 

He thanked WSDOT for its consistent attendance during U.S. 2 Safety Coalition meetings, which are held monthly in Monroe. 

“We’ve been at this 19 years now, and I wanted to thank Lorena and the DOT for working with us,” Seehuus said. “I can’t believe we’re coming up on 20 years doing this.”