Traffic safety opinion
Budget: $250 – $750 USD
The Northshore School District (NSSD) in Bothell, WA has embarked on a plan to upgrade the athletic fields at Timbercrest Middle School, complete with field illumination for nighttime events. The demand for this isn't stemming from school related sports events, but rather to help alleviate the intense use of public sports fields in the area. A Conditional Use Permit (CUP) has been applied for.
The problem here is that a CUP was issued in 1994 very specifically prohibiting such field illumination at Timbercrest. There were many reasons for this prohibition, chief among them was that access to this school is via mile long stretches by two tortuous routes and neither have streetlights. Thus, traffic safety at night was a concern. There have been no changes to these roads since 1994.
NSSD has yet to issue a SEPA finding, but there is currently a traffic study underway at Timbercrest (as of 5-14-26) using traffic sensing equipment owned by IDAX, which appears to be a transportation and traffic-data collection company based in Renton, Washington. Of course, this study is only gathering data under the prevailing conditions. Traffic could become much more severe once use of the fields is promoted for nighttime use.
I am looking for a traffic engineer that might be able to assist me by writing an appeal letter that a) indicates traffic accident risk could be substantial assuming roads without streetlights are used to access this facility newly outfitted for intense nighttime use and/or b) responding to the anticipated defects in the IDAX study, done under conditions prior to field lighting installation.
Doug Hakala
The problem here is that a CUP was issued in 1994 very specifically prohibiting such field illumination at Timbercrest. There were many reasons for this prohibition, chief among them was that access to this school is via mile long stretches by two tortuous routes and neither have streetlights. Thus, traffic safety at night was a concern. There have been no changes to these roads since 1994.
NSSD has yet to issue a SEPA finding, but there is currently a traffic study underway at Timbercrest (as of 5-14-26) using traffic sensing equipment owned by IDAX, which appears to be a transportation and traffic-data collection company based in Renton, Washington. Of course, this study is only gathering data under the prevailing conditions. Traffic could become much more severe once use of the fields is promoted for nighttime use.
I am looking for a traffic engineer that might be able to assist me by writing an appeal letter that a) indicates traffic accident risk could be substantial assuming roads without streetlights are used to access this facility newly outfitted for intense nighttime use and/or b) responding to the anticipated defects in the IDAX study, done under conditions prior to field lighting installation.
Doug Hakala