QUESTION: Why was an island put in a few years ago on U.S. 95 at Lacey, prohibiting any straight-through crossings (on Lacey) or left turns? Who had jurisdiction to do this and what was the reason? Is there any way to get it removed, since it necessitates a detour north to Wyoming or south to Miles for an unnecessary U-turn?

ANSWER: Two things spring immediately to mind here.

First, most grumpiness here in our little slice of paradise has to do with traffic and other road woes. Roughly half the questions received by your humble journalist come from frustrated drivers.

Second, this particular questioner is going to be really, really unhappy with the answer.

However, we should point out that this puzzle was only necessary because our correspondent committed the awful sin of failing to read The Press EVERY day, thank you very much.

You see, our relentless reporter Brian Walker authored a story back on June 17 that basically explained this entire situation, but…

What the heck?

For those of you sinners who don’t read every word of the paper day-in and day-out, we’ll just sigh, kill a few more trees and repeat the key points of this issue again.

So: The Idaho Transportation Department has jurisdiction over U.S. 95 and works with the various cities through which it passes to ensure the best possible traffic flow.

And no, that island at Lacey will not be removed.

In fact, more intersections eventually will look a lot like that one over the next couple of years.

The state transportation department’s top priority is to keep traffic flowing on the main artery.

If you’ve ever been going north or south on U.S. 95 at rush hour, you’d understand why they need to keep cars moving — and to prevent you from trying to hurry across on Lacey and getting T-boned by a speeding commuter.

Peak-hour traffic is about 5,120 cars per hour in the 8.9-mile corridor between I-90 and Highway 53.

To keep all those drivers from backing up into Lake Coeur d’Alene, the ITD plans to remove several traffic lights, change some turn lanes — and add more islands like the one that drives you nuts at Lacey.

In fact, ITD spokesperson Carrie Ann Hewitt told us that “curbed medians” like the one at Lacey will be added at the following streets: Cherry, Haycraft, Bosanko, Canfield, Aqua, Orchard, Dakota and Boekel.

So your basic answer about zooming across U.S. 95 on Lacey comes down to this…

Sorry, but no.

Let us answer your questions! Just send emails to Steve Cameron at scameron@cdapress.com.