4-Way Stop at 3rd and Hayes Draws Audience Feedback for Commission

MOSCOW – Data collected April-June about Hayes Street speeds and intersections showed that changes are not warranted at this time, the Moscow Transportation Commission heard Thursday in a report from Luke Hajda, city engineer.

Studies were prompted by a letter to the city in March expressing safety concerns for nearby Lena Whitmore Elementary children enroute to and from school (see earlier article at https://moscowidaho.news/2026/03/14/transportation-board-approves-budget-considers-school-safety/). Data collection at the areas previously occurred in 2018 and 2020.

Findings on the four issues/requests in the letter included:

1. Speeds are safe, traffic volume fairly low and sight distances greater than required at the Hayes and 6th intersection. So a flashing push-button crossing beacon is not warranted.

However, Commissioner Joel Hamilton noted, cars entering the intersection on 6^th from both the east and west are coming from low areas that can obscure pedestrians in the crosswalk until the last minute. 

Also, those entering 6^th from Hayes are so focused on looking for vehicle traffic on 6^th Street that they miss seeing walkers entering the crossing, said a Lena Whitmore mom and one of the letter signers who was in the audience. She also noted that by using the tall yellow pedestrian crossing signs as the focus for its sight-distance measurements, the city didn’t take into account the much shorter stature of elementary school kids.

And she asked the city to consider brightly colored, big painted designs to highlight the crosswalk, referencing similar safety enhancements near schools in Pullman. 

She and about three others in the audience spoke after Commission Chair Sarah Tucker opened comments to the public. All expressed gratitude to city engineering for doing the study so quickly after the city received the letter of concern.

2. The Hayes and 3^rd intersection did not meet enough of the criteria to warrant a 4-way stop. But it nearly did: One measurement required 200 vehicles per hour on the “controlled” street (3^rd Street, the one with stop signs) and 300 vehicles per hour on the “uncontrolled” street (Hayes). There were 322 vehicles per hour on 3^rd, but only 287 per hour on Hayes. Since both volumes were not met, the data doesn’t support a 4-way stop. 

Perhaps, then, the city should designate Hayes as the controlled stop and 3^rd the uncontrolled, suggested audience member Jason Holm, who said he has a background in transportation logistics and is interested in being on the Transportation Commission. If the street designations were switched, he said, intersection traffic numbers would meet the warrant for a 4-way stop.

Commissioners Hamilton and Mike McGahan noted the intersection has been discussed for decades: “Drivers on Hayes often stop; it feels like you should,” Hamilton said. “It’s a confusing intersection; that’s the problem.”

Audience member Nels Reece, who lives at the corner of 3^rd and Hayes, told the commission he is in the process of gathering neighbor signatures for a petition to present to the City Council advocating a 4-way stop. From years of anecdotal and lived experience, “we can encourage city traffic folks to do what the data may not show is needed,” he said.

“These intersections have been on the radar for years,” said City Councilman Bryce Blankenship, the council liaison to the Transportation Commission. “I will bring this up to the City Council to see how we might proceed, to get direction for next steps.”

3. Reducing speed limits on Hayes from 30 mph to 25 was not warranted by the data collected, Hajda reported. The average speed of 85 percent of traffic was 28 mph; a 25 mph limit likely would not alter that. 

Hayes Street isn’t immediately adjacent to Lena Whitmore property, he added, so the street isn’t eligible to be a lower-mph school zone. He clarified that there is a difference between routes to a school and a designated school zone.

4. Data also didn’t support extending the no-parking zone at 3^rd and Blaine, although repainting the yellow no-parking curbs is something the city will do, Hajda said.

In other business, the Moscow Transportation Commission:

* Determined to create in the next couple of months an educational sheet for e-scooter and e-bike riders about where they can ride in Moscow, speed limits and other safety information. Commissioners want this distributed via city utility bills and Facebook, through the University of Idaho Parking and Transportation Services, and to the Moscow School District and high school parents.

“We need to feed the information out once we compile it,” said Commissioner Mary DuPree.

This comes after city staff received public comments regarding e-scooter use and safety. The City Council recently renewed the 1-year SPIN scooter free usage agreement after largely positive feedback about the trial year of June 2025-26.

* Agreed that commissioners will bring to the August meeting their recommendations for the two questions the board can include in the fall random citywide survey. Surveys have gone out every two years since 2002.  

* As part of goal-setting, heard from each other about their priorities and reasons for serving on the commission. Hamilton said Moscow’s focus on pedestrians has slipped in recent years, perhaps due to budget constraints, but that is a priority he would like to see strong again.

McGahan said he wants to participate in retirement in the area where he worked for years; he retired as Moscow’s streets supervisor. Steve Mills, who represents the University of Idaho on the commission, said his priority is making sound recommendations to the City Council for the best use of resources for safety and efficiency. 

Longtime Commissioner DuPree joined due to “concern about accessibility for scooter and wheelchair users.” She said her priority is an ongoing systematic approach for the upkeep of sidewalks, especially in the downtown area.

She also shared concerns she has heard from community members that north Main Street, especially near Rodeo Drive, is nearly impossible to cross, though she said she doesn’t know if Moscow or the Idaho Transportation Department has responsibility for crossings on that road section. 

Tanya Denison wants to help the community look at transportation “through the lens of pedestrians and cyclists,” adding that, “If people choose not to walk or cycle, it shouldn’t be because the infrastructure prohibits them.”

Chair Tucker summed up her own and the commission’s priorities as safety and accessibility. 

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Moscow Transportation Commission will be Aug. 13.