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Downtown businesses, residents press Renton council for traffic-calming on South Third Street
Summary
Business owners and residents urged the Renton City Council to pursue near-term traffic-calming measures on South Third Street, citing speeding, inconsistent signals and heavy bus traffic; suggestions included red‑right prohibitions, leading‑pedestrian intervals, cameras and two‑way conversion as a longer-term option.
Business owners and downtown residents urged the Renton City Council on public comment to take steps to slow traffic and improve pedestrian safety on South Third Street, part of State Route 900. Matt Frazier, co‑owner of Drum Roll Wine on South Third, and nearby resident Tristan Cochin asked the council to pursue near‑term measures and staff follow‑up.
The requests came after speakers described repeated near‑misses and what they called unsafe driving behavior on the one‑way downtown corridor. "One‑way traffic encourages all sorts of bad behavior," said Matt Frazier, identifying himself as co‑owner of Drum Roll Wine. He said buses appear to be exceeding safe speeds to keep schedules and that some traffic signals are outdated and partially obscured by trees.
Frazier recommended short‑term measures including targeted traffic cameras and experimental crosswalk treatments. "I'd like to see [speed cameras] on South Third Street," he said, and suggested 3‑D crosswalk paint as a low‑cost, behavioral measure. Tristan Cochin, who lives on South Third Street, said the corridor functions as a highway in practice and urged a ban on right turns on red and installation of leading pedestrian intervals to prioritize pedestrian crossings.
Council and staff response: the mayor thanked speakers and said the city has received correspondence on downtown traffic calming and will review options. No formal motion or ordinance was introduced during the meeting; the comments were heard during the public‑comment portion of the agenda.
Why it matters: South Third carries both local traffic and state route traffic through downtown; speakers linked signal visibility, bus operations and one‑way configuration to pedestrian risk and asked for low‑cost, near‑term interventions while two‑way conversion and engineering work are planned or funded in the future.
The council did not set a follow‑up date at the meeting; speakers and residents were told staff would look into measures already being discussed by the city.
