Letter to the Washington State Department of Transportation:

Why is the busiest intersection in our region (at the north terminus of the Astoria-Megler Bridge) the most stupidly programmed intersection I’ve ever seen? And after multiple calls to WSDOT over the past few years, it remains so.

Those of you who frequently travel from Naselle to the Peninsula will know exactly what I’m talking about. The straight-ahead green for the right lane of State Route 401 southbound, does not, via default settings, automatically accompany the left-turn light from 401 onto the bridge, nor does it automatically accompany the pass-through green light for the 101 Southbound to 401 Northbound traffic (as if driving from Chinook to Naselle). There is no possibility of conflicting traffic in either of these circumstances, and there simply is no reason for this programming to be in place.

To make matters worse, there is an apparent time cut-off for activating the 401 to 101 light, so if you are the vehicle following two who are turning left onto the bridge, you only have about a 50/50 chance of getting your green as they turn left onto the bridge. There can often be more than a half dozen vehicles taking that left turn, all the while you’re not allowed to proceed straight ahead. Then, if a vehicle is stopped and waiting to travel from 101 S to 401 N, they will get a green, and you will sit through that with a red light, too. Then the traffic coming off the bridge will be given the green, and you will sit until the delay times out, and you’re given your green.This is not a sensor issue, it is simply how stupidly the intersection is programmed.

I recognize that this lane of traffic is probably the lane with the lightest traffic at this intersection, so you may ask, “What’s the big deal?” Well, by not allowing that unnecessarily stranded motorist to proceed at the last interruption of the 101 traffic, the 101 traffic will have to be interrupted again. I estimate that over 25% of 101 traffic stoppages (and accidents) could be avoided by proper programming.

JAY KAINO

Chinook