Moses Lake street changes reducing traffic crashes, according to data
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 months, 1 week AGO
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | July 1, 2026 3:10 AM
MOSES LAKE — Accident rates declined after Moses Lake city officials revised traffic lanes in sections of Moses Lake’s downtown, along East Hill Avenue and East Wheeler Road, at least in the first 200 days. Levi Bisnett, Moses Lake project engineer, reviewed the results of about six months of data with Moses Lake City Council members at a special meeting Tuesday.
Council members decided to delay consideration of changes to bike lanes in the project area until 2027.
Bisnett said there are more results to come, but crashes were substantially reduced in the project area, according to the data collected so far.
“We went ahead and took the last five years or so, from October to October, and mapped the crash data within the project area,” Bisnett said. The restriping project was completed in October 2025.
“We were seeing about 43 accidents, October 2020 to 2021, on those streets, then went up to 52 in 2021-22. Then (crashes increased to) 78 in 2023 through 2024. Then the year before the striping was done, there were approximately 73 accidents that happened on the streets that we changed as part of this project,” Bisnett said. “Then through the first 200 days, we've only had 15 accidents on these streets that have been changed and altered.”
If that trend continues, Bisnett estimated the city would have about 27 crashes within the boundaries of the project area.
In answer to a question from council member Jeremy Davis, Bisnett said traffic volumes on West Third Avenue have been about the same, at least during the time frame for which information is available.
East Hill Avenue, portions of East Wheeler Road, portions of West Third, Fourth and Fifth avenues were reconfigured from two lanes in each direction to one lane in each direction, with a left turn lane.
“Part of (the revision) was to create predictability and kind of meter the traffic coming through the downtown,” Bisnett said. “You guys probably remember that it was a race between certain segments, where it was two lanes back down to one. We’re trying to meter everyone to move through efficiently, instead of (being concerned about) ‘Who’s trying to pass me on the left or right.’”
Bisnett said one of the goals was to reduce confusion when streets went from four lanes to two, and back.
“They don’t really have an identity, so it becomes confusing to understand what the movements are that are going to take place. What we tried to do was given them an identity, such as, if you’re in the left turn pocket, you’re likely turning left. If you’re in the through lane, you’re going through.”
Sections of the project area were reconfigured to add angled parking; a bike lane was added to other sections. Some of the angled parking sections have both, with the bike lane between the parked cars and the sidewalk. Bisnett said some people have stayed out of the bike lane, but others haven’t.
Councilman David Skaug said that wasn’t the only issue he sees with the bike lanes.
“It doesn’t seem like anybody uses it,” Skaug said.
Moses Lake City Manager Rob Karlinsey suggested reconfiguring the streets to move the bike lanes and let bikes share the traffic lanes, which is how East Third Avenue is configured. Bisnett said city officials proposed that to the Transportation Improvement Board, which funded the project, but TIB rejected it.
Ultimately, council members decided to delay making any changes to bike lanes, collect more information and review the results next year.
Davis said he thought the results of the changes were encouraging so far.
“I think this information shows exactly what we're all hoping to see. I think all of us now can take this information (to) the people that are so frustrated and we can point out this is this has done a little bit of what we actually wanted it to do, which was reduce crashing,” Davis said.
Crash rates have dropped on Moses Lake streets that were reconfigured in 2025, according to city data.ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
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