Waiting in line

Whitefish drivers probably won't see the traffic situation at Baker Ave. and Second St. East improve any time soon.

Left-turning vehicles will continue to clog up the intersection for years to come unless the state highway department agrees to install new traffic light equipment there.

But according to Brent Campbell, at WGM Group, the consultant helping the state with the U.S. Highway 93 project, the state is only "willing to consider" changing the traffic light there — or, at least, they have "expressed that position in the past."

Campbell also notes that the state has looked at changing the lights on Second St. at Spokane, Central and Baker together as a package. Fixing the other two intersections is a fine idea, but Baker is a key component to traffic movement in the city right now, and it's the Baker-Second St. intersection that needs fixing the most.

Already, traffic typically backs up on Baker Ave. all the way to the post office because of drivers who want to turn left onto Second St. and head west. Additional growth north and west of the city collides at this intersection — right in front of City Hall, the police station and the fire hall.

Asking the state to temporarily install a free-left turn signal at Baker and Second is not asking for too much, considering the fact that construction on a new U.S. 93 design will not start until 2010.