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East Wenatchee council hears residents and staff on crosswalk safety, signals on Grant Road
Summary
Residents raised concerns about drivers failing to yield at marked crossings and intermittent signal outages; staff described maintenance agreements and equipment lead times and council discussed enforcement and education options.
Residents and council members flagged pedestrian safety concerns at several marked crossings in East Wenatchee on Feb. 4, with particular attention to the crossings at Eastmont & Ninth and two signalized crossings on Grant Road.
At the start of the meeting, resident Susan Williams told the City Council she had repeatedly felt unsafe using the signalized crosswalk at Eastmont and Ninth and recounted instances where drivers did not yield when the pedestrian signal indicated it was a walker’s turn. “It almost didn’t happen,” Williams said of a recent crossing near the library, describing vehicles that continued through while the pedestrian signal began to blink.
Council members followed up during the meeting’s project and signal-agreement discussion. Public works staff member Garen told the council the city has an updated maintenance agreement with the Washington State Department of Transportation for signals and is relying on WSDOT for specialized signal work while the city builds internal capacity. He described typical procurement lead times for parts and said some replacements can take 10–12 weeks to arrive.
Council member Johnson and Council member Magdoff described inconsistent behavior by drivers at flashing crossings and asked about options the city could pursue beyond signage. Council members discussed enforcement, educational campaigns, temporary movable signs, and pavement markings.
Garen and other staff said the city applies the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) standards when selecting pavement markings and that the city recently replaced triangular “yield” markings with stop bars on Grant Road to increase driver recognition. He and other council members noted the higher end of the pedestrian-control scale is a HAWK (high-intensity activated crosswalk) signal, which is legally treated as a red light when activated; that device is more expensive and used selectively.
Council and staff agreed to follow up with the police chief about targeted enforcement or education (previous local campaigns had paired warnings with enforcement) and to explore additional signage or temporary awareness efforts. Garen said staff would check legal limits for movable/enforcement signage and seek coordination opportunities with regional partners to broaden public awareness.
The council emphasized that pedestrians should remain attentive, and council members said drivers must stop for flashing pedestrian beacons. No ordinance or new spending was proposed at the meeting; the discussion produced direction to coordinate more outreach and review enforcement options.
