Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
DOT expected to fill Morgan Street gap
Motorists traverse down Morgan Street in Davenport, where citizens are concerned about some traffic laws not being obeyed.
DAVENPORT - The ripple effect of a regional Dept. of Transportation paint truck getting hit and knocked out of commission has led to an inconsistent striping sequence on Morgan Street, concerning residents and downtown business owners here.
Currently, downtown Davenport is striped as two lines instead of a solid barrier from Harker Street to Ninth Street.
This means it's technically legal to turn across as a "free barrier," even though the two-line striping job was done in error by the Dept. of Transportation's workers who didn't know the line was supposed to be a solid line.
A solid line 18-plus inches wide acts as a sort of freeway barrier and is illegal to turn across, Lincoln County Sheriff Gabe Gants said.
"A motorist cannot cross a freeway barrier and a violation of this offense can come with a $432 traffic citation," Gants wrote in an email.
The Dept. of Transportation plans to fill in the double line to create a solid yellow line before the fall, though an exact timeline hasn't been set as that work will be done by the regional department...not the local office, county office maintenance supervisor Joe Chimienti said.
"LCSO plans to conduct a traffic emphasis of the downtown corridor once the lines have been painted to educate the motoring public on this and other common traffic violations frequently observed in Davenport," Gants said.
Cutting across the yellow line and passing on the right are big issues, some local business owners said.
"We see close calls almost every day, and people pass on the right all the time," NAPA store manager Tim Hosking said.
Davenport Family Foods co-owner Sherill Hansen said she's concerned someone using the downtown crosswalks could be hit by an inattentive motorist turning across the yellow line or illegally passing a car on the right.
"We probably see (illegal driving) at least once every time we're outside," Hansen said.
The most common location for turning across Morgan Street, which remains technically legal until the striping job is completed, is from westbound motorists turning left into the spaces in front of Subway, local merchants said.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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