Commissioners support highway improvements

Whitman County Commissioners Monday voted to send a letter to Ninth District Senator Mark Schoesler, reaffirming their support for construction projects on Highways 26 and 195.

The letter from Whitman County followed a letter which had been sent by the Adams County Commissioners to Schoesler in which they also showed support for improvements on the two highways.

“We believe there is a critical need for safety improvements on both highways and agree with the Adams County Commissioners that the recent accidents show the improvements should be put on fast track and implemented quickly,” the commissioners wrote.

SR 195 is scheduled to have passing lanes installed along the highway between Spangle and Colfax in 2017. The plans are underway for 195, and a public meeting was Wednesday night at Colfax High School where the Department of Transportation presented plans on the project, possible locations of passing lanes and results of a corridor crash analysis.

Construction of passing lanes on SR 26, between Hatton junction and Colfax, has not been scheduled until 2025, and the commissioners for both counties have urged the work to start earlier.

“We appreciate any efforts to speed up this process as it will protect the citizens of Whitman County, Pullman and WSU,” the Whitman letter stated.

The push to speed up the construction projects started after the deaths of two WSU students in separate accidents during their travels home for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Christine Hunter, an 18-year-old WSU student from Spokane, was killed Nov. 20 one mile north of Rosalia after her car crossed the centerline and struck a pickup truck head on. Trooper Doug Powers, the responding Washington State Patrol deputy to the accident, told the Gazette in December that the cause of the crash is unknown, but he suspected texting.

“I think she was on a phone,” he said. “I can’t prove it.”

Trooper Powers said he suspected this based on the curves in the road and the lack of evidence of a reaction by Hunter.

The passenger in the car, 18-year-old Sidney Ritter of Spokane, was severely injured with a brain injury, and Trooper Powers said he does not think he will be able to ask her what happened.

“There’s a slight curve to the left, and her car went straight,” he said. “Most people when they realize they’re not on the road anymore, they over react.”

Trooper Powers also told the Gazette that additional passing lanes will be a mixed solution.

“We’ve solved one problem, but we’ve added another. All that’s going to do is increase speeds,” he said. “The roadway really had nothing to do with it. It was just a matter of driver inattention.”

However, Trooper Powers did say he could get behind additional funding for the roadways.

“If a legislator can get more to fix the roads by citing these examples, then I could support that,” he said.

The second fatal accident ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday involved the death of Morgan Cope, a 20-year-old WSU student from Buckley, and 18-year-old Jason Wigen of LaCrosse, who survived the crash. Troopers believe that Wigen’s vehicle crossed the centerline and struck Cope’s head on. Wigen was airlifted to Sacred Heart in Spokane and then to Harborview in Seattle for treatment. He is now home.

The trooper who responded to that accident, Trooper Bruce Blood, was not able to be reached for comment, and no cause was listed in the accident for crossing the centerline.