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Public Works details transportation safety plan, photo enforcement results and planned speed studies
Summary
City staff described a 20-year transportation plan, a safety action plan that targets high-risk corridors, a traffic calming program and photo-enforcement results (about 37,000 infractions issued since 2023) at a community meeting.
City of Auburn public works officials reviewed a recent transportation planning update and enforcement programs aimed at reducing fatal and serious-injury crashes and neighborhood speeding.
The department said it completed a 2024 update to its comprehensive transportation plan and a comprehensive safety action plan that analyzed crash data from 2018–2022. Staff reported that about 59% of fatal and serious-injury collisions occurred on roughly 6% of the city’s road miles — primarily arterial corridors — and that contributing factors included distracted driving, impaired driving, fixed-object collisions, turning movements and high speeds.
Public works staff outlined the traffic calming program that targets neighborhood speed reduction and cut-through traffic; two area-wide projects were under construction and additional projects were planned for 2025–26. The department also described routine 24/7 speed studies that use discreet counters to capture actual driver behavior.
On automated enforcement, staff said Auburn implemented 12 cameras at eight school zones in 2023 and, since then, had issued "just under 8,000 warnings" and "over 37,000 infractions." The city reported the noncompliance rate in those school zones dropped from about 25% of vehicles traveling 10 mph or more over the limit to about 2% after camera deployment.
Staff said they will study legislative changes that allow general-speed enforcement on arterial roads and consider up to three locations for citywide general-speed photo enforcement with a potential start of citations in 2026. The department encouraged residents to use the SeeClickFix app to report infrastructure issues but asked the public to call 911 or the police non-emergency line for immediate hazards such as flooding or open manholes.
No new ordinance or council vote was announced at the meeting; staff emphasized the next steps are funding and design to implement planned projects.
