Save Vancouver Streets campaign not thrilled with city’s Complete Streets program, and there are more neighborhoods that could see changes to their thoroughfares soon

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

There was no warning of the changes, at least before the new paint job just in front of the intersection.

There were no orange signs that read “Traffic Revision Ahead” on SE 34th Street heading west to SE 164th Avenue.

But on Monday, many drivers figured it out when the back-up caused from turning left onto 164th was some 12 blocks.

To be fair, there was a crash on nearby Highway 14. And most drivers turning left on 164th during the morning rush are then trying to get to the Highway 14 on-ramp just a few hundred feet south.

Crash or no crash, it was a hectic start to the new way of life on 34th Street.

For years, there were four lanes at 34th and 164th. Traveling westbound on 34th, there used to be one lane to turn right — north — on 164th. There used to be one lane to go straight, to continue on 34th westbound. And two lanes to turn left, the major traffic route to get to Highway 14.

Not anymore.

Now it is three lanes, one to go right, one to go straight, and one to turn left.

The organizers of Save Vancouver Streets predicted a negative response to the changes that happened here, and are proposed to happen on McGillivray Boulevard and many other streets in Vancouver. That is why they are hoping to get an initiative put on a future ballot (not this November) to demand that Vancouver does not do away with lanes of vehicle traffic without the vote of the people.

Judging from the many people who have been sounding off at meetings of this grassroots operation, or at community forum events with city leaders, a lot of people who live in this neighborhood are not thrilled with the changes.

Again, Monday was a traffic nightmare. So many drivers were used to two turning lanes. Then it was one. And while the single left-turn lane now is long, it was not long enough to hold the many vehicles that intended to turn left. That left traffic backed up for blocks.

On Tuesday morning, Clark County Today was at the intersection to observe. There was no such traffic nightmare Tuesday. However, while watching the signal cycles for 90 minutes, there was at least one driver that turned left from the center (go straight) lane 80 percent of the time. Sometimes three and four cars per cycle turned left from the center lane.

Were they intentionally breaking the law? Did they just not notice the new system? Again, no traffic revision signs were seen a half-mile, or quarter-mile away from the intersection. But there is now one less lane, and a new paint job with arrows pointing in the direction the city has chosen for drivers to follow.

So, are drivers just frustrated and refusing to change their habits? Or did they simply not notice the change after so many years of two left turn lanes?

There were a lot of drivers using their horns. Drivers in the correct lane to turn left made their turn, then wanted to merge to the right in order to get to the on-ramp to Highway 14. Those drivers did not expect anyone in their blind spots on their right, because, in theory, no one else should have been turning left alongside them.

Call it chaotic.

Rick Ackman, one of the leaders of the Save Vancouver Streets organization, also showed up Tuesday to take in the new traffic design.

He is not sure that a crash on the highway was the reason for the back-up on Monday.

“I can’t blame 14. It has been like that for three years, and we’ve never had this kind of a back-up,” Ackman said. “The only thing that is different … a lane was removed. That is the only variable.
Ackman also was not surprised that the traffic was not nearly as bad on Tuesday. That is because his group had received reports Tuesday morning that driving behaviors had already changed.

“We witnessed cars dipping through neighborhoods and going around,” he said.

Others reported that drivers were going eastbound on 34th toward 192nd, then turning south to get to Highway 14 that way.

“After sitting in that thing yesterday, I would do the same thing,” Ackman said. “That would take one time for me, and I’m out.”

One thing is just about certain: Commuters did not stop using their cars from one day to the next. They just found a different route, a route that will frustrate neighbors or the regular drivers on 192nd.

A pedestrian on her way to the transit station stopped to give her opinion.

“Who did this traffic redesign? It is ridiculous. We still drive cars. I’m a supporter of biking. I would love to bike in, but I have to go to Portland. I’m not a supporter of what they’ve done,” said Thelma, who did not want her last name used in this story.

She has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years. 

One driver, while waiting for the light to change, rolled down his window and yelled at our direction: “This one lane thing? It’s  … ridiculous.”

Ackman acknowledged that two days is not enough to determine what will be the new normal. Monday was hectic. Tuesday not so much. He said Wednesday will probably see an increase in traffic from Tuesday but not as much on Monday.

On Monday night, he and a colleague from Save Vancouver Streets tried to talk about the issue at the city council meeting, but they were told that it was not on the agenda. 

Ackman also said that while he was against this change at 34th, and is against the proposed “Complete Streets” on McGillivray and others, he will say he was wrong if these roadways do see an improvement.

“I want to do what’s right. It’s not who’s right. It’s what is right,” he said.

Very early indications suggest that the changes on 34th have not benefited the neighborhood. More traffic Monday. A lot of illegal turns on Tuesday. And reports of drivers circumventing the main route with makeshift detours.

But, Ackman noted, perhaps in a few weeks, all will work out.

For now, though, frustration is the word of the day for drivers and neighbors. 

For more on Save Vancouver Streets’ initiative process, see our story here: 

Save Vancouver Streets also has its own website here: https://www.savevancouverstreets.com/