Goal to reduce accidents

BREWSTER – A crew from the Washington State Department of Transportation out of Wenatchee began preparing a stretch of U.S. 97 west of the Brewster city limits last Monday, August 27 for the installation of a two-way left-turn lane at the intersection of Brewster Grange Road.

On Tuesday, August 28, traffic was restricted to one lane as the center stripe was moved closer to the north side of U.S. 97 on both ends of the corridor that will include the new turn lane.

The one-to-two-week project is designed to reduce a traffic hazard caused by trucks turning into fruit warehouse facilities on the south side of the highway without the added safety benefit of a designated turn lane.

DOT representatives advised the Brewster City Council last July that a recent traffic study of the Brewster Grange Road/U.S. 97 site revealed five reportable accidents involving injury or damage in excess of $1,000. Three of those incidents involved vehicles trying to pass another vehicle attempting a left turn.

The project calls for adding a two-way left-turn center lane on a .8-mile section of U.S. 97 at Brewster Grange Road. Traffic lanes will be narrowed from 12 feet to 11 feet and the current eight-foot shoulders will be reduced to four feet.

“The nice thing about this roadway section is that we have enough width that we don’t have to add any pavement,” a DOT spokesman told council members.

A proposed speed limit reduction from 60 miles-per-hour to 50 mph will apply on the 1.18-mile stretch of highway from the end of the two-way turn lane to the 40-mile-per-hour transition coming into south Brewster.