Letter: Exit from highway unsafe again

To all the folks who use Highway 17, Baseline Road and Potato Frontage Road, we had it made for a little while, didn’t we?

After last summer of traffic tie-ups and slowdowns during construction, using those roads seemed too good to be true. And of course, it was.

The state spent all summer in 2022 resurfacing Highway 17, and at Baseline even put a nice long right lane to exit onto Baseline. It was great. You had plenty of room to get into the far right lane and begin to slow down for a sharp right turn without having to worry about being run over. It was wonderful.

Alas, it wasn’t to be permanent. This spring, the state spent another day or so putting in a barrier so the lane is no longer usable. Now it is back to trying to slow down from 60 to a crawl in the space of a few car lengths, or to screech around the corner on two wheels while your passengers are hanging on for dear life and all the drivers who regard the speed limit as only a suggestion fly around you with dirty looks and rude gestures.

I’m not a fan of lawbreakers, but I do applaud the drivers who were knocking down the barriers for a while. But even that didn’t last. Apparently the barriers are there to stay, so those who need to make that corner, be sure your life insurance is paid and your medical insurance pays for whiplash.

Norma Thompson

Moses Lake