[Vision2020] Ring Road vs internal Hwy 8 bypass

[david sarff]

My wishful thinking would be that the city would deal with the northwest 
quadrant in order to deal with its own internal traffic pressures, then meet 
up with ITD’s Thorncreek to Moscow on the Southwest side near the Mall or 
Wal-Mart. Thus funding at least half of the by-pass out of the Thorncreek to 
Moscow budget.
The ITD by-pass study was not fully funded and was only complete as far as 
the first phase was concerned . ITD only participated in the first phase of 
the study and in my opinion stopped when the result served their own 
purposes. This was not helpful for the City. I recall that Walter Steed was 
visibly and verbally stunned finding out that the study would not be 
thoroughly completed.
There is an issue with bringing the Highway 8 traffic east/west 
through/around town. The south west quadrant in the last 25 years has gained 
the Arboretum and a couple of park areas. This increase in engineered 
esthetics has already proven to have become a valued sanctuary for the 
community and the prospect of pushing traffic via a ring road (or anything 
else noisy and lit up) through that area will be an up hill battle for 
anyone who wants to push traffic volume into that section.
This has been one reason why I feel that a Western by-pass needs to begin 
heading west far south (before Clyde hill) so as to avoid the then easterly 
Arb and Ball fields. Leave old 95 as the first off ramp into town.
But, that still does not help the highway 8/east west traffic issue. Neither 
would an eastern by-pass…What to do?
Would rerouting 95 traffic out of downtown leave enough relief to live with 
highway 8 cross traffic internally? Indefinitely? Could highway 8 be pushed 
on westerly from junction at 95, along the tracks and out by the information 
center ( yuck, esthetics over function again). Hard to know what to do with 
8 internaly/externaly.
  Maybe the city would do well to insist that ITD carry out the full By-pass 
study as recommended by the very folks who performed the first one.

Dave Sarff



>
>One possible place to start now.  Connect the Moscow-Pullman Highway to US
>95 by going through/on Farm Road, Harden Road, Mix Road.
>
>W.
>
>