County posts draft Snoqualmie Pass safety plan for public comment under SS4A grant

Kittitas County staff said a draft safety action plan for the Snoqualmie Pass area—developed under the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant—will be posted for public comment and returned to the board for possible adoption to leverage future grant funding.

Josh Frederickson, Public Works, said the SS4A project began with resident concerns about traffic and safety along the main routes through Snoqualmie Pass and that the county partnered with the Washington State Department of Transportation and King County because the county owns relatively few of the main roads in that corridor. "One of the main concerns out there was the near misses that aren't necessarily recorded as crashes," Frederickson said, describing community reports of unreported dangerous conditions.

Frederickson said the county hired a traffic consulting firm identified in the meeting as Fair and Pierce to analyze issues and that staff conducted an online survey to capture input from residents, businesses and visitors. The department intentionally collected traffic data across four seasons to reflect both winter ski traffic and summer recreation peaks before finalizing recommended solutions.

The draft report, staff said, identifies specific locations and potential solutions—ranging from intersection improvements and marked crossings to parking alternatives—and will be posted on the county website and distributed through partner channels for a public comment period. Staff emphasized that the draft does not itself obligate funding for any of the identified measures; the report is intended to support future grant applications and interagency coordination with WSDOT and King County.