Work begins to remove Highway 99 center turn lane in Edmonds
EDMONDS — Highway 99 could become more shaded, slower and safer along a stretch through Edmonds after a major project starting this month.
The city is removing the center left turn lane, sometimes derided as a “suicide” lane, from 210th to 244th Street SW. Most of that space will be replaced with a tree-lined curb median about 20 inches tall and mid-block left-turn pockets by next year. It’s a $10.2 million project, with most coming from the Legislature’s 2015 Connecting Washington transportation package.
Edmonds’ stretch of Highway 99 includes a combination of high speeds and high traffic volume. Most of the highway allows 45 mph and sees around 39,000 vehicles per day, according to Washington State Department of Transportation data.
Some crashes happened while drivers turned left into and from the center lane, said Lisa Reid, a planning engineer with consulting firm SCJ Alliance. Generally, left turns are dangerous, according to data analysis by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2010.
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/work-begins-to-remove-highway-99-center-turn-lane-in-edmonds/
