SPOKANE, Wash. — The Washington State Department of Transportation is waiting to hear from the City of Spokane after it sent a letter to City Council President Breean Beggs about the dangers of Highway 195.
The WSDOT said the City of Spokane needs to halt development in and around the Eagle Ridge area and other areas in South Spokane in an effort to stop traffic problems from getting worse.
The three main streets highlighted by WSDOT were South Hatch Road, East Meadowlane Road and East 16th Avenue. It said that these three streets feed drivers into busy highway traffic without the proper safety upgrades.
WSDOT said Spokane's land-use decision haven't kept up with demands, and believes that all three intersections it listed are operating at an 'F' level of service.
But even if the city addresses all three problem intersections, the real problem is getting onto I-90.
According to WSDOT, nearly 4,000 homes are already approved or in the process of getting approved, and that if a temporary halt in development in those areas isn't put in place, it will be forced to make its own changes.
Two of those changes could include shutting down median breaks in the middle of Highway 195 and an adjustment to ramp meter merging on I-90.
KREM reached out to Beggs on Monday, and he said city leaders will sit down this week to discuss potential options. Beggs also said he doesn't believe halting development is necessary right now and that he's hopeful the city and the state can agree on how to make improvements.
Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward said in response to the letter that staff are reviewing the letter.
"Staff are reviewing the letter and will continue having dialogue with the Department of Transportation about the best approach.
The following video is a report from January about a work stoppage on the North-South Freeway due to safety issues.