Seattle pushes safety fixes on Rainier Ave. South; advocates say it’s not enough

(The Center Square) – Seattle community organizers are calling for bold strategies to improve traffic along Rainier Avenue South, as city officials point to ongoing projects along the road and its frequent motor vehicle crashes.

The Seattle Neighborhood Greenways organization recently put up an online post saying the city should hasten improvement projects along the corridor as new apartments, a new school, and a new Link Light Rail station are opening in the area.

According to the organization, in the last 10 years, there have been 1,522 vehicle crashes along Rainier Avenue South.

Rainier Avenue South stretches eight miles through Seattle’s Rainier Valley, and is considered one of the most dangerous streets in the city due to the high frequency of automobile crashes. Seattle officials are aware of this, as the city has allocated funding to safety improvements along the road and continue to do so with new levy dollars.

However, Clara Cantor, community organizer for Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, told The Center Square that members of the organization have seen many Seattle projects get watered down so much that they are not effective at discouraging dangerous speeding as part of improving safety.

The city previously implemented a successful project further south for three-quarters of a mile through Columbia City. However, Cantor said the project was located in one of the wealthier parts of Rainier Valley.

“There has always been urgency to act as long as people are being injured and killed along Rainier Avenue South, but the city has also chosen to concentrate new development along high-speed arterials instead of more spread out throughout the city,” Cantor told The Center Square in an email. “This increases the number of people in danger, puts pressure on the street as a whole, and elevates the need for street design that is safer and more efficient.”

In an email to The Center Square, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s Press Secretary Callie Craighead said the mayor remains committed to the city’s Vision Zero goals of a zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries on its streets by 2030.

Amy Abdelsayed, who is part of the Seattle Department of Transportation Public Affairs Team, said the department has been redesigning the street and is continuing the safety redesign on Rainier Avenue South, “including with new concrete and painted medians, new crosswalks, new signals, new bus lanes, new intersection daylighting treatments, new No Turn On Red restrictions, and new sidewalk repairs.”

Funding for Seattle’s Vision Zero initiative across the city was boosted by the voter-approved Seattle Transportation Levy, which is allocating $160.5 million to make targeted Vision Zero and community improvements to streets, sidewalks, intersections, and crossings, as well as $100 million to improve pedestrian and bike accessibility signals.

As for Rainier Avenue South, Abdelsayed said SDOT expects to improve safety and accessibility at five locations along the road by next year. These improvements include pedestrian walk signal upgrades, curb ramps and curb bulbs.