The crashed vehicle from the July 4 rollover seen in daytime. The occupants survived.
Photo courtesy Shelly Valentine
MACHIAS — For the third time in less than a year, a serious rollover crash happened where 161st crosses Carlson Road.
Carlson Road has become one of the major back ways to travel between Lake Stevens and Monroe, but unfamiliar and inexperienced drivers are running into serious trouble on this rural road.
The first of these three crashes happened during Aquafest in 2023, dating almost a full year ago. The crash occurred around 4 a.m. the morning after the event.
“I did hear a crash,” a homeowner on the corner of the intersection, Shelly Valentine, said. “But I thought it was more fireworks that were going off, so I ignored it which was a big mistake.”
Nearly an hour later Valentine was awakened by a Monroe police officer on his way home from work. The officer saw the Valentines’s truck had moved 65-70 feet away from their driveway and was smashed into a pole.
There was an additional truck that landed upside down in a ditch after hitting the Valentines’s truck, marking the beginning of nightmares coming true for the homeowners in the area.
After this first incident, Valentine asked for the county to come out and investigate the area. It’s documented that at least one other resident began asking in 2019.
“They told me as long as everyone is doing the speed limit everything works just as it should,” Valentine said. “But the problem is, no one does the speed limit. We are setting people up for failure.”
Rapid housing growth in Lake Stevens has led to more drivers using Carlson Road as a bypass to avoid congestion on state Route 9, Valentine said, and some are driving on the rural road at speeds faster than the highway.
Carlson Road is posted at 35 mph with warning signs on the approach to 161st advising to slow down to 30 mph.
“We live on 161st, directly across the street from Shelly,” another homeowner on the intersection, Ryan Ramsey said. “When we pull out we stop, roll down our windows, and try to listen for cars. But when people are doing 60-70 miles per hour around that corner they cover the distance in a heartbeat.”
Ramsey said a near-crash, despite these extensive precautionary measures, happens about one to two times bi-weekly when he is simply trying to pull out of his driveway.
The next crash occurred in January of this year. In the middle of the day, the Valentines heard an all-too-familiar sound.
Witnesses driving on the road saw the car begin to fishtail as it went around the corner due to high speeds, and eventually watched complete control of the car lost and roll over, marking the second nightmare.
The third and most recent crash occurred on the night of July 4.
“It was 11:44 and we heard a horrific crash,” Valentine said. “Before I even left the house I was calling 911.”
And for the third time in less than a year, excessive speed caused another rollover accident.
Valentine, Ramsey and others concerned have offered many new solutions in attempts to limit these crashes. Some people have suggested a three-way stop, a roundabout, and even speed bumps.
County traffic engineers are evaluating. They visited Thursday, July 18.
“Snohomish County Public Works is conducting traffic investigation work, including speed monitoring and traffic counts,” Doug McCormick, Snohomish County Public Works Deputy Director and County Engineer said. “Information will help guide future recommendations.”
But the locals in the area have seen no change.
“By now, we just expect it,” Valentine said. “We expect these accidents to happen. For us, it is traumatizing every single time.”
The Valentines lost their truck, their fence line and a handful of hedges, but they worry the next might be a life.
