The missing link

Community dedicates Dogwood Court crossing

MOSES LAKE ‹ It was the students who cheered the loudest Thursday when supporters applauded the Dogwood Court crossing project Thursday.

For them, the new crossing from Neppel Park to McCosh Park has provided a safe means for them to walk and bike from their homes across Moses Lake to class at Frontier Middle School. Moses Lake School District administrator P.J. De Benedetti told the gathered that the crossing will benefit those students who can now easier walk to Frontier Middle School.

"We're really excited about it being a good safe way for kids to come to school," De Benedetti said.

A group of the students lined the basalt columns with attorney Julie Harper and representatives from other supporting groups to cut a ribbon dedicating the crossing which supporters say is the first in a series of plans to make the city more walkable.

"This is just one more of many projects that helps to beautify our city and improve the quality of life for all our citizens," Moses Lake Mayor Ron Covey said.

The project is one of many members of the Healthy Communities Trails Planning Team have been working toward, and Co-chair Joe Rogers cited others in the works including the Heron and Peninsula trails currently in development, the Larson Trail in Grant County and another trail which will provide safe routes to school for students at Longview Elementary School.

Rogers praised Harper as the catalyst of the project in successfully presenting the project to the city, and providing the seed money to bring it to fruition. Harper's Carbon family trust provided $19,000 to the project, which also saw support from the city, school district, Trails Planning Team and Washington State Department of Transportation.

Harper said the project was the beginning of many great things, and provides a safe crossing for kids on their way to school. She challenged others to commit to making Moses Lake a place people want to live.

Moses Lake Police have stepped up enforcement efforts at the Dogwood crossing and said officers will be issuing traffic citations to drivers failing to yield the right of way to pedestrians crossing at the intersection. Moses Lake police said the lights remain in the caution mode to remind drivers of the danger present, and said the fine for failing to yield the right of way is $101.

The $325,000 project includes a parking area and the yellow flashing light crossing on Broadway Avenue. The Dogwood crossing is the newest across Broadway Avenue, but city Municipal Services Director Gary Harer said another is being discussed at Burress Avenue further west on Broadway Avenue.

The dedication coincided with a makeover for Dogwood Street itself, which in the last two weeks has seen a change from back-in to parallel parking on the two blocks between Fourth and Broadway avenues. Harer said the city had installed back-in parking as a pilot project in 2004, but said the method of parking wasn't accepted by residents parking on the street.

The new modifications keep bike lanes on the street, the only striped bike lanes in Moses Lake, as part of the trails connection between McCosh and Neppel parks. Harer said additional bike lanes on East Broadway Avenue are planned following the looming widening of Highway 17 this summer.

"We're going to do more of that, because I think people like bike lanes," Harer said.