Safety efforts eyed for Sagle intersection

SAGLE — One death, 22 injuries and 13 accidents at the intersection of Highway 95 and Sagle Road in the last four years make the stretch of pavement here a blinking red light for the highway department.

Despite the numbers, the Idaho Transportation Department has no plans for traffic lights at the intersection.

Wednesday morning’s wreck, which left a man injured and his car spinning on its top in the northbound lane, is the latest statistic.

Scott A. McCay was heading south at the intersection Wednesday when a minivan slammed into the rear, passenger-side wheel of his Chrysler Pacifica.

Witnesses said the driver of the minivan, 18-year-old Eli G. Zech of Sagle, attempted to dash between a gap in traffic from the Conoco filling station to Sagle Road.

Zech refused medical attention. He was cited for inattentive driving.  McCay, 56, was taken to Bonner General for treatment.

According to the Idaho Transportation Department’s intersection analysis, 10 of the 13 accidents occurred during daylight hours and seven happened on a dry road.

Steve LaMarche who works at the Travel America RV Park on the west side of the intersection said the problems here have a common denominator: too many people with a lead foot.

“They all drive too fast,” LaMarche said. “That happens all the time.”

The highway department has a solution, at least for the time being.

It plans to spend $1 million this summer to increase safety on this section of road.

Department officials have met with property and business owners on both side of the corridor in an effort to gather information on how best to proceed, Barbara Babic, highway department spokeswoman, said.

Speed reduction is one of the options on the table.

“Before we do that, we will have to have a speed study, so we have something to base it on,” Babic said.

Site distance improvements and adding turn pockets for motorists entering or leaving the highway are also being considered.

The solutions, however, are temporary, Babic said, because the section of road at milepost 468 is part of the larger, 31-mile Sagle to Garwood project.

But the bigger road-widening and improvement plan is only partially funded with money that is earmarked for the southern end of the project, Babic said.

“No funding has been identified for the Sagle section,” she said.

In a tight economy where the flow of dollars for state improvements has slowed to a trickle, the Sagle phase of the project won’t likely happen in the near future, she said.

Sagle Fire District Chief Rob Goodyear is glad that at least something will be done this summer to improve safety.

He said there are 40 conflict points at the Sagle Road and Highway 95 intersection. 

“They are all individual elements a driver must analyze” when entering the intersection, he said.

Motorists in turn lanes, blind areas and the regular stream of fast-moving traffic, as well as motorists in the process of turning onto the highway, or crossing over it all have potential for conflict, he said.

He has seen his share of close calls.

“I see near misses at least once a week,” he said. “People dash out, creep out, or blindly drive out. They do some crazy things out there.

“If somebody isn’t paying attention they are really at the risk of causing an accident,” he said.

Wednesday’s wreck had the potential of injuring more than the two motorists, Goodyear said.

Car parts from the Pacifica left a slick on the highway and the car’s ball joint, tie rod and spring catapulted through the air landing on the other side of neighboring road. The wheel wasn’t immediately located.

“It went at least 40 yards,” the chief said.