Our response to the current Space Age Fuel proposal involves this potentially very dangerous intersection where Southwest 40th and State Route 503 converge (this is the fourth traffic light on 503 south of Main Street in Battle Ground).
For the 42 families who live in the residential neighborhoods connected to this intersection, for the kidney dialysis patients accessing the Fresenius facility, for clients and suppliers of the forthcoming Concrete Specialties Supply on the corner, and the school buses which daily pick up and return students to this neighborhood, there is only one way in and the same way out.
This is the only dead end street turning west off State Route 503 in this north Clark County area; all others connect with through streets. This doubles the traffic already flowing through this area, which could make it doubly difficult for emergency vehicles to get through to the connecting residential neighborhoods and to Fresenius.
Right now, several hundred vehicles go in and out of Southwest 40th via State Route 503. As of this coming summer, we are told that the Clark County Saddle Club’s 698 members with their heavy trucks and horse trailers will be doing the same, along with the Concrete Specialties store’s supply trucks and contractors’ vehicles when it opens. Add to this mix Space Age Fuel’s own estimated 1,600-1,700 vehicle units accessing a proposed fuel facility on the corner of this intersection, and we can see enormous congestion and a real public safety concern since there is no dedicated right turn lane off 503 onto Southwest 40th coming from the north; drivers must sidle over to a very narrow patch of pavement and hope they don’t get hit from behind.
Coming from the south, there is a woefully inadequate left turn lane that accommodates only a few vehicles.
Can’t you just imagine construction vehicles, horse trailers, school buses and other cars and trucks all trying to access Southwest 40th from a very busy State Route 503? I cringe each time I have to turn there, especially coming from the north, hoping the fast-moving State Route 503 traffic will slow down and see my turn signal.
With a potential 2,500-3,000 units a day trying to access and leave Southwest 40th here, we urge the City of Battle Ground and its partner WSDOT and other agencies to address this coming hazard now. Get ahead of the problem, before more accidents and loss of human life become a reality.
Is it too much to hope that the City of Battle Ground values the health and safety of its citizens more than it values chasing more tax revenue?
