Everett unveils draft Vision 0 plan targeting pedestrian and intersection safety

Everett city staff on Sept. 10 presented a draft Vision 0 Everett plan aimed at reducing serious injuries and fatalities on the city’s transportation network, highlighting 16 high-priority locations and a mix of engineering, policy and network-level interventions.

The plan maps a “high risk network,” identifies 16 locations (12 segments and four intersections) for prioritized capital work, and pairs those projects with non-infrastructure recommendations — including a proposed speed-setting procedure and a Complete Streets checklist — plus systemic countermeasures such as improved lighting and enhanced crossings.

Corey Hertz, the city’s traffic engineer, introduced the briefing and described the plan as “a long range plan that’s also a continuous improvement plan.” He said the draft will move into a public engagement phase after an advisory workshop, with postcards and online materials to solicit community feedback.

City staff said the technical analysis behind the plan reviewed five years of crash data and about 9,500 reported crashes. The presentation cited 65 deaths and 342 serious injuries on Everett streets between 2019 and 2024 and reported that 31% of serious-injury and fatal crashes involved people using active transportation; over half of fatal crashes were active-transportation incidents (pedestrians and bicyclists). Intersection-related crashes accounted for 16% (angle crashes) and 13% (left-turn crashes) of the serious/fatal crashes analyzed.

Consultants from Kimley Horn, including Alyssa Blackman and Brent Crowther, described the public-engagement approach used to build the draft: three in-person workshops with an advisory team, eight neighborhood association meetings targeted by the high-risk network, online mapping tools and an online survey. Staff said the public comment period on the draft will remain open for about four weeks starting after the Sept. 10 meeting; a final plan is planned for November.

The draft groups recommendations into three tracks: engineering (capital improvements at the 16 high-priority locations), non-infrastructure (policies and procedures such as a speed-setting memorandum and a Complete Streets checklist) and systemic countermeasures (proactive treatments applied across the network). Examples discussed include raised medians, signalized pedestrian crossings, bulb-outs, speed management measures and enhanced crossing markings.

During council questions, Council member Voguely asked how recent fatalities would be incorporated into the plan. Hertz said the city will maintain a dashboard, likely updated quarterly, to track crash trends and guide targeting of enforcement, engineering and education. Council member Bader confirmed that the city’s crash dataset excludes limited-access state highways such as I-5 and SR 526 but includes other high-volume arterials under city jurisdiction.

Hertz and the consultants noted funding will be a constraint and described the plan as incremental; they said the city plans to pursue competitive grants — including the federal Safe Streets for All program, which staff noted supports projects up to $5,000,000 — and to leverage other sources as available.

The presentation concluded with five city commitments recommended in the draft: prioritize pedestrians and people using mobility devices; foster a safety-first community; strengthen engineering–enforcement partnerships; adopt Vision 0 policies into city planning; and build Vision 0 infrastructure over time.

The Vision 0 Everett materials, technical memoranda (including the Complete Streets checklist and a speed-setting procedure), and an interactive map were slated for publication after the Sept. 10 meeting so residents can review and comment. Staff said the advisory team will hold a final workshop the next day and public engagement will continue through mid-October before plan finalization in November.