A Feb. 23 Committee of the Whole (COW) council meeting reviewed two different proposals to improve traffic flows along Newport Way NW and added a new option to the mix.

Under consideration were plans to ease congestion and reduce traffic accidents along the arterial street that connects the Gilman and Newport subareas to Old town. The plans call for either widening the roadway to three lanes in several areas and add traffic signals, or maintain a two-lane road and install roundabouts.

Councilmember Joshua Schaer, chair of the Council’s Transportation Committee, offered a third option offering a blend of both.

“In mind there’s really a number of different views on this issue,” he said. “And it has the potential, I’m afraid, to become quite divisive,”

Councilmembers exchanged concerns with city staff over what effect the improvements could have on performing left turns, turn restrictions, road widths and emergency response times. According to the Issaquah Police Department, at least 54 car accidents have been reported along the road between NW Juniper Street and Sunset Way.

“The biggest message that I heard was do something, and do something soon,” Barber said.

Issaquah public works engineers also addressed some concerns from councilmembers John Traeger and Tola Marts focused on traffic modelling software used to design the problem intersections along Newport Way Northwest.

“My anecdotal experience is, people don’t drive roundabouts very well,” Traeger said.

The software, Sidra Intersection, is published by Australian traffic engineering firm Akcelik & Associates.

Two residents, Terry Phelan and Ray Albrecht, also aired concerns about their property at the intersection of 380 Newport Way Northwest Dogwood and Newport. They said they were concerned by the prospect of the city seizing property through the right of eminent domain, and the uncertainty over city plans had been interfering with the sale of their property for the better part of two years.

“We just want a decision to be made so we can move on with our lives,” he said.

The Newport Way Northwest improvement project will next return for consideration by the public at the council’s next CTC meeting at 5 p.m., March 4 in the Pickering Room at City Hall Northwest.