There have been numerous articles and letters to the editor about the safety and congestion on U.S. 2 between Monroe and Stevens Pass. The latest article proposed a six-lane road with a rail line in the middle. While an excellent idea, it is so far over the top it will never receive any serious attention. Just the tunnel through the Cascade range of solid granite would cost billions. So lets air some realistic solutions.
The main problems with U.S. 2 have been identified many times as crossover accidents and congestion. Congestion, or the thought of future slow traffic ahead, raises the short fuse of drivers and causes them to take more risks, like passing on a blind corner. Since a four-lane U.S. 2 is not something you will see until you see I-5 and I-405 each at 12 lanes, we can rule that option out.
In my opinion the major problem with U.S. 2 is the fact that Sultan, Startup and Gold Bar have hijacked the 55 mph state highway and turned it in to Main Street. The multitude of road intersections, businesses, driveways and stoplights turn Main Street into a crawl, particularly in the summer on Sunday afternoons. This backup can start at Index and creep along at 5 miles per hour. Once past the last stoplight in Sultan the traffic flows once again.
So the fix is to prevent further expansion of driveways and roads onto U.S. 2. A frontage road would be needed to serve new connections to U.S. 2. For the existing roadway, between Sultan and Gold Bar, it would be relegated to a frontage road. (Yes I know, business will fight tooth and nail against this.) The cheapest option would be to turn the land between the current road and the railroad into the new limited access U.S. 2. It appears some of this land is city parks and they will scream at this option also. But remember this adage, there are consequences to any action. They chose to develop their city along U.S. 2 and now the consequences have come home to roost. A new road around the 3 cities would be another option, but that would isolate them even further.
To minimize the crossover collision problem it is important to reduce the slow traffic problem. One phase would be to build passing lanes on the steeper grades that slow the heavier vehicles to a crawl. The other slow traffic problem results from what I call the “weak knee syndrome.” These are the drivers who travel at 60-plus mph on the straight stretches and then slow down to 40 on many of the curves, even in dry weather. These places could be identified by the frequent travelers and design requests made to smooth the bad curves out. This would increase the average speed on the road, and reduce road rage.
The above suggestions will still cost millions, but it seems more realistic than pushing for a new muti-lane corridor. It is my hope this article will start a discussion on the possibilities or reclaiming a limited-access, 55-mph U.S. 2.
Curt Young lives in Snohomish.
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