Many businesses along the East Sprague Corridor in Spokane aren't happy.
Some shop owners have expressed concerns about congestion on the street and have witnessed dangerous driving practices, all of which they attribute to the location of bus stops.
Originally, Sprague had two lanes going each way but, in order to make the corridor friendlier to business and less of a thoroughfare, the city reduced it to one lane each way. The rest of the space was taken up by turn lanes, widened sidewalks and more space for on-street parking.
To allow for that parking, buses also stopped pulling to the side and stations allowing for in-lane stops were constructed.
Now, business owners say those stops are causing new problems.
"I'm really afraid that somebody's going to get hurt," said Janet Taylor, who owns Blue Cat Vintage on Sprague and Napa.
The new stations are located on the far side of the intersection, meaning the buses stop after they pass the traffic light. Taylor says that causes cars to back up in the middle of the intersection and sometimes miss lights.
More concerning, she says that she frequently sees impatient drivers try to go around the bus by cutting into the turning lane.
"That is a safety concern," Taylor said. "I've been in that lane myself when somebody did pass and I was like: what am I going to do?"
She and other business owners want the stops moved, either farther down the street or to the near side of the intersection. The East Spokane Business Association took out multiple full-page ads in local newspaper The Spokesman-Review calling for the Spokane Transit Authority (STA) to change the bus stops.
But STA says the proposed alternatives would only cause more problems.
Pulling out of the lane of traffic would eliminate dozens of parking spots the businesses want. Stopping before the light causes a danger to pedestrians.
"When you stop on the near side of the intersection, if a pedestrian crosses in front of the bus, if there were to be an impatient driver who went around it, there would be a blind spot for that pedestrian to walk out to in front of an oncoming car," said STA spokesman Brandon Rapez-Betty. "When it's on the far side of the intersection, the pedestrian walks to the rear of the bus and crosses through the crosswalk, which gives plain visibility to the oncoming traffic."
STA argues the real problem is the traffic lights.
"Traffic queuing has more to do with traffic lights than it does with having to be behind the bus, which stops on average for about 13 seconds at these in-lane stops," Rapez-Betty said.
That's why the STA board voted to keep the stops where they are at Thursday's meeting.
But they also voted to explore a new technology, which would basically give buses the same power to change the lights that emergency vehicles have. That means buses could turn the light red behind them temporarily, so antsy drivers don't try to sneak into the intersection or turn lane.
Taylor says she's open to compromise, as long as it makes her intersection safer.
"We want to work with the STA and I'm sure that we can come to some type of compromise," she said.