EVERETT — City Hall has plans to develop and adopta comprehensive plan designed to create safer roads for vehicles and pedestrians called Vision Zero.
Corey Hert, City Traffic Engineer, led an Aug. 27 presentation to a City Council subcommittee.
According to the data, between 2018 and 2022, there have been 44 fatal crashes in the city, the predominant being a pedestrian-fatal crash.
Vision Zero’s main goal is zero roadway deaths. Everett’s working on a plan that will reshape how roads will eventually look and feel. It will take about a year to tailor the plan on how it will be used in Everett.
“Humans are vulnerable, responsibility is shared,” Hert said. “Yes, pedestrians have the responsibility to stop and yield according to the law. But the vehicles have particular responsibility in that regard and we will focus a lot on drivers and creating a safer roadside.”
“We already use many, I will say that on every transportation capital improvement project we incorporate traffic calming,” Hert said. “I think that this will help us even narrow our focus more on things that are most effective.”
The next step for Vision Zero to become a reality is to compile all the data and listen to the community. The city has a contract with Kimley-Horn, an engineering consultant. Hert hopes that by the end of Fall 2025 to have a completed plan for review and comment.
Traffic data, traffic volumes, speeds, police reports and equity data will all be taken into account to determine what is needed for the city. Hert said the plan will include traffic calming policies for specific areas of the city, explaining that it is going to take more than speed bumps to make roads safer. These could be narrowing roadway widths, which causes drivers to slow down.
There are specific roadways Hert hopes will be improved with Vision Zero: Evergreen Way, Highway 99, Broadway, Rucker. These streets have the highest crash rates for vehicles and vulnerable users.
If Vision Zero gets adopted next year, Everett will join larger cities such as Seattle, Bellevue and Tacoma to commit to redesigning roads to be safer for their citizens.
“We are just getting started here,” Hert said. “We are in the communication phase of the project.”
On Sept. 10, the Public Works Department hosted a safety launch, where a group of community members and law enforcement discussed what they believe need improvement. Public meetings will be announced.
“We have not been living in a bubble. We have a good idea where we expect the analysis to show that Everett can use some work,” Hert said.
Resources:
The city created a webpage about its plan and will publish information on meetings on it in the future.
The link is http://www.everettwa.gov/everettvisionzero
