Stratford Road traffic not severe enough to warrant WinCo opposition

For the last 16 years, I have traveled between downtown Moses Lake and Kinder Road at least 1,000 times per year during the busiest times of the day and on weekends. I have always told people that it takes me less than five minutes to get to work. However, until the last 10 days, I have never actually timed the trip. 

I took out the stop watch because there is opposition to WinCo Foods coming to town. A couple of women say that their major concern is traffic congestion on Stratford Road. They have got to be kidding! They have even filed a lawsuit against the city. 

Of the 30 timed trips that I have taken the last several days only three trips took over four minutes, eight trips took less than three minutes and 19 trips took between three minutes and four minutes. The longest commute was four minutes and 35 seconds. On four out of those 30 trips, one lane was closed in my direction of travel due to maintenance and yet the average of the 30 trips was still three minutes and 13 seconds. I am pretty positive that in the worst of all cases, the average commute might jump up to four minutes and maybe once in every 20 trips it might take a whopping five minutes. 

Is that reason enough to discourage new businesses from coming to town? This whole episode might cause WinCo to withdraw. It might also have an impact upon other business entities that might look past Moses Lake to greener pastures. I guess that some people just want some time in the limelight, but in spite of them, I hope that we see some growth in our town. 

Richard E Willis

Moses Lake