Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced a new executive order Friday aimed at speeding up the city’s work to make streets safer and prevent serious and fatal crash
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson announced a new executive order Friday aimed at speeding up the city’s work to make streets safer and prevent serious and fatal crashes.
Wilson joined Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) leaders, City Council members and community partners to unveil the executive order, which directs the city to accelerate actions tied to Vision Zero.
The order advances the city’s Vision Zero work by accelerating priority street safety projects and other actions to reduce dangerous speeding and improve safety for people walking, biking, rolling and driving.
“Ten years ago, Seattle set a goal: Zero traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030. That goal was right. But too many of our neighbors are gone—and every one of those deaths was preventable,” said Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck, vice chair of the Transportation, Waterfront, and Seattle Center Committee. “Mayor Wilson moved with urgency today, and I thank her for it. This executive order will save lives. Everyone deserves to get home safe.”
The announcement took place in front of Cleveland High School, near an SDOT pedestrian safety improvement project currently under construction at 13th Avenue South and South Lucile Street.
The project is intended to serve as an example of the types of safety improvements underway across Seattle and connects to a focus on safer travel for students and families as the school year approaches, the city said.
Gordon Padelford, executive director of Seattle Streets Alliance, said the organization applauded the mayor's action and noted that many of the city's most dangerous streets have remained the same since the Vision Zero program began in 2015.
“Seattle has been talking about the same dangerous streets since the beginning of the Vision Zero program in 2015,” Padelford said. “In Seattle, 80% of pedestrian fatalities occur on multiple-lane arterials.”
Padelford identified Aurora Avenue North, Rainier Avenue South, Fourth Avenue South, Lake City Way Northeast and MLK Jr. Way South as the city's five most dangerous streets and said the executive order gives SDOT backing to accelerate improvements.
Clara Cantor, a community organizer with Seattle Streets Alliance, also highlighted efforts to improve visibility at intersections, including the use of planters, bike racks or bollards to prevent vehicles from parking illegally near crosswalks and stop signs.
“By adding planters, bike racks, or bollards in these areas, we can prevent illegal parking, increase safety by slowing turning car traffic and improving visibility, and make our streets more accessible by providing places to park scooters off the sidewalks,” Cantor said. “This is a win-win-win that can be implemented quickly, and we look forward to seeing more of these improvements in neighborhoods across the city.”
Wilson and other participants provided remarks before a media question-and-answer session.
The event also included the executive order signing and a group photo near the project site.
