Parkway speed limit slated to be raised

Published 12:28 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

SNOQUALMIE – Those traveling through Snoqualmie may be able to get in and get out of the city a little faster.

The Snoqualmie City Council is considering an ordinance that would raise the speed limit on Snoqualmie Parkway to 40 mph. Currently, the speed limit from where the road starts at the Interstate 90 off ramps to just before the city limits is 40 mph, but once the road enters city limits, the speed limit drops to 35 until the road ends at State Route 202.

It is a difference of only five miles per hour but ever since the road was opened in 1997, the speed limit has been a bit contentious. Those who have been pulled over on the road, which has steep hills and can be virtually vacant of traffic at times, have often protested the speed limit. Others have applauded the slower speed limit through what is a development filled with young families.

But the decision will not be based on people’s opinions. Snoqualmie Councilman Jay Rodne, who chairs the city’s Public Safety Committee, said the recommendation to raise the speed limit was based on the engineering of the road and at what speed people on it can safely travel.

“It’s not a political decision, it’s an engineering decision,” Rodne said. “The present speed limit is below the engineering standards for that road.”

The city’s Public Works and Public Safety Departments came to the recommendation after receiving results from a study the city commissioned earlier this May about the possibility of raising the speed limit. The study, which was done by the King County Department of Transportation, determined that 40 mph would be a safe speed for the road after analyzing traffic volume and speed samples last winter.

For the complete story, pick up a copy of this week’s Valley Record