Snohomish County seeking public input on road safety action plan with online open house

Snohomish County has seen a rise in serious and fatal traffic injuries, and officials are seeking public feedback on a draft Road Safety Action Plan aimed at changing that trend.

Snohomish County Public Works, in partnership with the Snohomish County Health Department, is building on its Road Safety Program and developing a Road Safety Action Plan, which will identify priorities and projects that are specific and actionable, the County said in a news release. The plan will establish clear steps for how the county will move toward the goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries, which increased 70% from 2014 to 2024.

To ensure the final plan reflects the needs and experiences of the traveling public, the Public Works Department invites everyone to visit the Snohomish County Road Safety Program Online Open House and share their thoughts about safety on county roads through an interactive survey.

“The Road Safety Plan and the Safety Action Plan will help focus transportation investments to improve how people move safely on our transportation network.” said Public Works Director Kelly Snyder. “Together, these two plans represent a traffic safety culture of shared responsibility, proactively identifying safety opportunities for everyone who uses Snohomish County’s connected transportation system.”

Snohomish County’s efforts are aligned with the Washington State Department of Transportation’s Target Zero Plan, which highlights the importance of data-driven traffic safety strategies. The Safety Action Plan is being funding by a grant from the Puget Sound Regional Council, as part of the Safe Streets and Roads for All Program.

As part of the Road Safety Program, the Health Department created an online dashboard of crash data from 2014 to 2024. The interactive dashboard and related maps allow the public to explore factors influencing crashes, demographics of who is involved, and the results of those crashes.

“Together, this dashboard and accompanying maps present a decade of Snohomish County crash data to the public for the first time in a way that’s easy to explore,” said Health Department Director Kim Van Pelt. “We hope that seeing the patterns—where, when and how crashes happen—encourages people to think more carefully about their own choices behind the wheel and gives community planners and advocates the evidence they need to make our roads safer.”

The Road Safety Program implements the Safe System Approach, which is an international movement based on the collective action of all transportation system stakeholders to improve road safety. This includes the idea that people will make mistakes and therefore roads should be designed and operated in ways to accommodate human mistakes and vulnerabilities. Road safety is not only a project or a program, but also a culture that everyone must embrace and actively contribute to.

In Snohomish County, some roads have more than their share of crashes, resulting in the establishment of the High Injury Network. For example, 93 miles of rural roads (or about 4.3% of all rural roads in the county) are categorized as being part of the Rural High Injury Network because 57% of all serious and fatal crashes occur on those roads.

“We have varying transportation needs in the county,” said Deputy Director and County Engineer Doug McCormick. “Public input for the Safety Action Plan will help us determine how to prioritize projects and spending to make the biggest safety gains possible.”

The public is invited to provide feedback and specify locations of concern through the Road Safety Plan Online Open House and associated survey. The self-guided open house is available until September, giving people an opportunity to explore and provide input on their schedule, taking as much time as they wish to spend. Public Works staff will be at some community events this summer and can take in-person feedback as well.

Learn more at bit.ly/RoadSafetyOH.