Which Intersection in Pasco REALLY Needs a Turn Light?

We all have sore spots when it comes to certain intersections or streets we travel on in the Mid-Columbia. But this one is fast becoming a serious irritation.

If you're a regular traveler through Pasco, most of you experience the intersection of 28th and Lewis Streets as you come in off the Lewis Street offramp just over the Blue Bridge. It's the underpass you take on the left.

What puzzles me is, why is there no left turn light or signal on 28th?   Traffic moves East and West on Lewis pretty well.  People heading in, and those heading onto the Blue Bridge don't wait very long.  There's a left-turn signal besides the regular lights, and it works rather well.

But just don't be one of the folks on 28th that gets caught heading North or South. As part of my regular commute to our station here in Pasco, I travel it virtually every day.   For a number of hours during the day, and especially after 3pm past 5, the intersection becomes an exercise in frustration.

Because traffic turning off 28th onto Lewis headed West towards the Blue Bridge has to wait for cars going through the intersection, it's not uncommon for maybe only one car to make it across before the light changes. Unlike the East-West bound traffic on Lewis, there's NO left turn signal on 28th; North or Southbound.

It's not unusual to have to sit through 2, 3, even four light cycles before it's finally your turn to try to make it across.  To make it even more exciting, in the afternoon, several school buses stop at the Flamingo Village Park on 28th, and numerous vehicles back up behind it.  Then these cars have to head North and try to get through or across the 28th. and Lewis intersection.

I am surprised the city has not installed the same left turn-signal found on Lewis for the traffic coming off -and going onto- the Blue Bridge.  But, boy do they need to.

Earlier this week, I timed the duration it took for me to get through the cars and onto the Blue Bridge.  It was nearly ten minutes! Over the last year or two, the problem has grown, and it's only getting busier.

Many people have discovered to get across Pasco, it's easier to head down 28th, then take A street along the dike all the way across town. Traffic by our station has increased a lot of the last couple of years.

So, Pasco City Engineers,  you really need to put turn lights North and South on 28th and Lewis - that is, if you want drivers to keep their sanity!

thanks!