Why not a right-hand turning lane?

A few days ago I drove out of the parking lot at the Goodwill store in Ponderay and turned left on the two-lane Lark Spur Road and drove toward the Kootenai Cutoff Road.  It was 11:30 a.m. in the morning and I’d planned on turning right on that thoroughfare. As I pulled up to the stop sign there were four cars in front of me and they all had their left turn signals on. 

I had to wait several minutes as the cutoff road was quite busy as the cars ahead of me had to wait for traffic to clear. At that time I wondered why there wasn’t a right-hand turning lane as there was lots of new apartment building construction going on (between the Goodwill store and Kootenai Cutoff Road), plus the current businesses, state offices and additional apartments along Lark Spur Road. That added up to a lot of people and a lot of cars using the road with only one exit. 

It might not be feasible to aid the traffic flow by adding a right-hand turning lane, but it might be something that the powers-to-be and traffic department folks might want to look into for the future. 

CECIL HICKS

Sandpoint