Lessons from the traffic-pocalypse
The recent repaving of South Highway 89 and Broadway has opened the community’s eyes to our vulnerabilities in road redundancy, and what we must do to prepare in case of emergencies.
Most folks take road access for granted. Turn on the car, buckle seat belts and drive each day on roads built and maintained by local and state governments. Our tax dollars fund the most critical infrastructure of everyday travel of commuters, emergency responders, school buses and general commerce.
When these norms are interrupted, like the collapse of the Big Fill on Teton Pass earlier this year or reduced traffic lanes in west Jackson because of paving, we are presented with an opportunity to re-evaluate.
Town, county and state law enforcement agencies have been noticeably missing from traffic management throughout the recent WYDOT paving process within Jackson town limits. Improved communication, traffic management and proactive scheduling would’ve helped save thousands of hours of commuter time and corresponding frustration at bottlenecks. Granted, WYDOT has been stretched thin by the emergency rebuild of Highway 22 over the pass, but better coordination was warranted.
Each winter, the school district uses delayed school start times to accommodate snowy conditions that disrupt bus service for students, and car access for parents and teachers. Perhaps for future road work the school district would benefit from being part of the planning process, rather than having to react to unanticipated gridlock that caused classes to start late last Monday.
So what happens when we lose a road or bridge from a major accident, natural disaster or chemical spill that closes a road for days, weeks or months? Our community crumbles by the impacts of losing just one lane of travel, so imagine losing all lanes for an extended period of time?
Last week is just the most recent incident that should make the leaders in our community refocus on road solutions that create redundancy and safety in the future.
South Park Loop needs immediate planning help to meet future needs. Connecting Tribal Trail Road to Highway 22 is in the WYDOT planning process and will be yet another tool to alleviate congestion at the Y intersection and schools and create redundancy. Snow King Avenue may benefit from managed use of lights, rather than four-way stop signs, to act as a critical vein for east-west travel. The list goes on, but these are the most imminent priorities.
As our community looks forward, we must learn from our recent traffic meltdown while the pain is fresh. With self-imposed and necessary adversity comes the opportunity to do better in the future.
Transportation planning must evolve to meet future needs. Pathways and START buses are great, but no alternative mode of transportation can solve all the issues we face when we lose even one lane of the artery entering town.