Counting cars: Moses Lake traffic study moves into second phase, rates traffic in Mae Valley area

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake city officials have started the second phase of a study to determine how to address traffic issues at intersections along Hansen Road.

City officials commissioned a study of traffic along Hansen Road and in Mae Valley as part of the update to the city’s Comprehensive Plan.

The study of anticipated growth should be completed by December, city manager Allison Williams said. It will look at the impact on traffic in Mae Valley and along Hansen Road for the next 20 years. The third phase of the study will take the information and recommend some solutions.

Williams said the study was designed to take into account the impact of traffic going to and from the new Love’s Travel Stop & Country Store off Interstate 90 at Pritchard Road, as well as traffic generated by existing development. Construction on the truck stop is projected to be completed by January.

The analysis ranked intersections and how they’re handling traffic on a scale of A to F. As of 2021, most Hansen Road intersections were adequately accommodating the traffic, according to that analysis.

Traffic at the eastbound and westbound I-90 on- and off-ramps was rated as “A” in the morning and “B” in the afternoon. The intersection at Hansen and Westlake roads was rated as “B” in the morning and “C” in the afternoon. The intersection at South Frontage Road and Idaho Road was rated as a “C” in the morning and “B” in the afternoon.

But the Hansen Road and North Frontage Road intersection was rated “F.” North Frontage Road provides access to the Moses Lake Golf Club and development around it.

The study was based on the assumption of no new subdivisions in Mae Valley. Growth would be confined to existing and already approved development or existing vacant lots.

Williams also said city officials did not always take into account the impacts of growth west of the lake.

“We have some intersections that need fixing, even based on the current conditions,” Williams said.

The city limits extend to Bogey Lane and include a portion of Westshore Drive.

The development process is supposed to include an analysis of the impacts on roads and utilities, not just in the development but in the surrounding areas. It’s called a “concurrency test,” Williams said.

“Look at the whole. So that we could understand the whole,” she said.

That didn’t always happen in previous development.

“We have not looked at things holistically, and that needed to happen,” she said.