Speed changes part of Ephrata safety report

EPHRATA — New crosswalks and decreasing the speed limit on A Street are part of an Ephrata plan to improve safety on Nat Washington Way.

The city released a traffic report with five recommendations including reducing the speed limit to 25 mph for all of A Street Southeast, possibly extending the school zone to Nat Washington Way and purchasing new school zone signs.

The report was spurred by members of the Grant County Health District in March. The employees pointed to some near misses in the area of Nat Washington Way, saying narrow sidewalks, limited visibility and the proximity of the Ephrata Middle School added to the potential danger in the area.

“The significant things to talk about here are Walmart … the changes at the middle school with more parents driving students, the rise in enrollment, more people out walking … then the increased use of the Sports Complex, the construction of Splashzone and the skate park,” City Administrator Wes Crago said.

All of these factors affected traffic on the road, he said, adding the report indicates a need to address the potential safety hazards and the potential for additional growth along Ephrata’s second busiest road.

“The schools and the city are working very closely together on this issue, and are pretty committed to what I would call proactive decision-making,” Crago said. “There hasn’t been anything that caused us to react regarding an accident or even near-miss accidents, but the data I think is pretty clear on some recommendations.”

The city used five traffic counters to track the vehicles using the road and their relative speeds, according to the report. The study found the majority of drivers exceeded the 25 mph speed limit by as much as 10 mph. The number of pedestrians using the area was not tracked.

“I think the things that do stand out … meaning collisions plus traffic tickets, for this area is about double what’s average for an area of Ephrata,” he said. “However, collisions are far lower than an average area, which means that most of what’s going on … are speed violations.”

The higher than average amount of tickets is due to a larger police presence, Crago said, adding a lot of people walk and drive in the area.

“A dramatically large number of people exceed the speed limit,” he said. “When the 85th percentile is at 36 mph in a 25 (mph) zone, this is an area of concern.”

In an attempt to make drivers slow down, the city increased police patrols and is using a radar trailer to display the speeds people are traveling down the road. Staff also is talking with the middle school about ways to improve traffic.

In addition to the current measures the report recommends adding crosswalk access ramps, a new crosswalk at Third Avenue and Nat Washington Way, adding some “crosswalk ahead” signs and reducing the speed limit on A Street to 25 mph.

“We believe that based on the traffic volumes and the number of access points and the nature of the access that should be 25 (mph),” he said.

The report also recommended revising the Ephrata safe routes to school plan. Crago explained the plan may include expanding the 20 mph school zone onto Nat Washington Way.

“It’s essentially a sidewalk plan, or a walking plan,” he said. “It will note where the traffic by foot and by car would be for each school.”

The plan also includes budgeting for school zone signs with a display showing the speed people are traveling.

“They’re about $9,000 each, so they’re a fairly pricey piece of equipment and we see a need for three of them, if you accept this plan. We wouldn’t install those until we have a safe routes to school planned and we’ve all agreed as a community where the appropriate place to place those are, based on the walking routes, based on where the school zones should be.”

Each one of the recommendations needs separate approval from the council before the city could proceed, Crago said.