Slow down!
This stretch of Coeur d'Alene River Road headed toward Enaville will be getting a few changes made to it after the Shoshone County Commissioners decided to reduce the speed limit from 50 to 45 miles-per-hour. The decision was made after a speed study showed that there were sections of the road that were deemed unsafe for the current speed limit.
Photo by JOSH McDONALD
WALLACE — The Shoshone Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) met with Jim Roletto of HMH Engineering to discuss the results of a speed study that was conducted at the request of the county.
The study, which was conducted last fall, focused on the stretch of Coeur d’Alene River Road beginning at the 0 mile marker and then stretching two miles toward Enaville.
Concerns over the 50 miles-per-hour speed limit throughout that particular stretch of road, including safety issues with signage, various driveways, curves in the road, as well as many other factors prompted the request and the findings validated those concerns.
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the U.S.
According to Roletto, the results of the study showed that when analyzed against general design standards, including signage and roadway geometry, parts of the road do not meet AASHTO design specifications.
Roadways are supposed to be designed with the idea that they can safely handle vehicles traversing them at roughly 10 miles-per-hour higher than the posted speed limit and this stretch of roadway doesn’t fully meet that requirement due to its geometric design.
Geometric design refers to the dimensions and arrangements of the visible features of a particular roadway.
This includes pavement widths, horizontal and vertical alignment, slopes channelization, intersections and other features that can significantly affect the operations, safety and capacity of the roadway network.
Roletto’s recommendation was to decrease the posted speed limit from 50 to 45 miles-per-hour, which does bring it into compliance with the 10 mph-over rule, and then to shorten that stretch of 45 miles-per-hour by 700 feet to reduce speeds as vehicles pass by residential driveways.
According to BOCC Chairman Mike Fitzgerald, the board motioned to approve the study and directed public works to make the changes to the signage once the weather is more favorable.
Fitzgerald also indicated that the county will be exploring some potential grant opportunities to potentially purchase and install some active radar speed signs for the area.