Washington County planners outline Transportation Safety Action Plan, cite rise in fatal and serious crashes

Dionne Valentine, principal transportation planner and planning section manager for Washington County, and Shelly O'Lear, the county's traffic analyst and bicycle and pedestrian coordinator, presented an overview of the Transportation Safety Action Plan at the planning commission work session.

Valentine said the project began in late 2024 after the county won a federal Safe Streets for All grant in partnership with Metro and the city of Tigard. She said the plan is intended to bring Washington County into compliance with current federal guidance, make the county eligible for additional construction funding, and provide a framework for prioritizing safety projects and programs.

Shelly O'Lear summarized the county's recent crash data and the rationale for the initiative. "That's about 1100 people. 1103 because everyone counts. 1103, in Washington County," O'Lear said, referring to the number of people killed or seriously injured in recent years. She noted that, while overall crashes have decreased, the number of fatal and life‑altering injuries has risen — a pattern she said is consistent with state and national trends.

The plan uses a safe‑systems approach, Valentine and O'Lear said, meaning the county will combine strategies that target safer people, safer vehicles, safer speeds, safe roads and post‑crash care. "We're taking on looking at this plan with the safe systems approach," O'Lear said, adding that the approach recognizes humans make mistakes and that multiple overlapping measures are needed to prevent deaths and severe injuries.

Staff described key technical elements and constraints: crash records used for analysis come from Oregon Department of Transportation reports derived from DMV crash reports and typically arrive with a roughly two‑year lag; the county has contracted a consultant for a more robust safety assessment and has convened a technical advisory committee and a community advisory committee to guide goal‑setting and prioritization.

Planners said the plan will separate analyses and strategies for urban and rural areas because crash causes and funding streams differ. O'Lear said preliminary findings show rural crashes are increasing in severity and that the county will develop targeted strategies for both rural and urban contexts.

Federal grant requirements also ask jurisdictions to adopt measurable targets. Valentine said the county is discussing options with advisory committees and noted examples other Oregon jurisdictions have cited, including statewide and local targets aiming toward zero deaths and life‑changing injuries by 2035 with interim reduction targets. "We will be working with our Community Advisory Committee and our Technical Advisory Committee partners on framing that up," Valentine said.

Next steps include continued data analysis to identify high‑priority countermeasures, community engagement online and in person through summer and fall, and producing a draft plan for board consideration this winter with final plan approval anticipated later this year or in early 2026. Staff said one objective is to strengthen public education and partnerships with emergency response, public health and law enforcement to address non‑engineering factors such as impairment and distracted driving.

Commissioners asked about committee membership, metric choices and whether the county can rely on the federal funds given uncertainty at higher levels of government. Valentine replied the grant is active and that reimbursement continues, and O'Lear confirmed the advisory committees include representatives who rely on walking and biking. Commissioners also asked that staff present crash trends broken out by contributing factor (for example, speed, poor facilities or impairment) and expressed interest in per‑capita or exposure‑adjusted performance measures to account for population and mode‑share changes.

Planners encouraged public involvement as the county develops strategies and performance measures and reiterated that the plan's purpose is both to identify projects eligible for construction funding and to create measurable ways to monitor progress over time.