The city is working on a new traffic plan to try and alleviate some of the pressure on North 30th Street in the mornings and make the area easier for those just trying to get through.

Right now, due to a lack of capacity on Interstate 405 north, cars trying to enter the highway at the North 30th Street are forced to wait their turn, causing a back-up for the length of the ramp and spilling back onto the roadway.

The city has been studying the issue for about two years and last year gathered the numbers on a few typical weekday mornings, both with school in session and not.

According to Deputy Public Works Administrator Doug Jacobson, “on a typical morning,” traffic backs up all the past Kennydale Elementary School to North 27th Street.

According to the city’s data, the line begins to form around 7:10 a.m. – earlier when school is in session – with traffic already backed to Northeast 29th and Kennewick. By 7:30 it reaches Aberdeen Avenue. It begins to clear after 8 a.m. and is usually flowing free by 9 a.m.

The problem, aside from the wait to get on the highway, is that the roadway is not wide enough as it is currently laid out to allow for people not going to I-405 to get around the traffic and continue to I-405 south or down the hill to Kennydale.

Jacobson said the state is planning to double capacity on the ramp through re-striping and the city will try to do its part by making the northbound curb land on Kennewick Place a no parking zone during the early commute hours. The city will queue the line to the highway along the curb, giving other traffic a chance to get past.

“Our hope is that the combination of the additional capacity on the ramp and the city creating that queuing lane, the backup won’t go so far up 27th it’s blocking,” Jacobson said.

Jacobson said the ramp at North 44th, which also has heavy traffic, though not as bad as North 30th, will also be re-striped to eliminate some of the pressure there as well.

Though he admits this will probably not alleviate all of the traffic problems, he said it should make things a little easier in the morning for commuters.

Jacobson said the city hopes to complete the project this spring and plans an educational and marketing campaign next month to inform the public of their plans.