Wonders why road not raised

I’m not a traffic engineer, so I guess I don’t get it. Once again, as it happens every year, Slater Road is closed due to flooding with traffic diverted through the clogged streets of Ferndale. For the past 25 years I’ve driven Slater Road and it happens reliably several times each year. It must cost business money in lost customers, increased wear on Ferndale streets; and if are we to believe UW climate scientists (which I do), global warming only means more rain and less snow for Northwest Washington. So Slater Road is destined to close more frequently.

Like I said, I’m not a traffic engineer, so I guess I don’t get it. Millions of dollars were spent this summer widening Slater, putting in turn lanes, and repairing the Nooksack River bridge. Prior to this, additional money was spent putting in traffic circles near the I-5 intersection at Slater.

I’m certainly glad for those safety improvements even though I’ve heard anecdotally from residents living nearby Slater that the greater visibility, better road grades, and turn lanes has seen traffic speeding by at even greater speeds — so much for safety.

Yet with all the work that was done on Slater, and all the taxpayer money spent, no one thought to do something about raising the roadbed for a stretch of road probably less than a football field in length?

Like I said, I’m not a traffic engineer, and I just don’t get it.

This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Wonders why road not raised."