Residents urge quick pedestrian safety fixes after fatal crash at Cole and Stevenson

A cluster of residents told the Enumclaw City Council on June 22 that the city must act faster to make neighborhood intersections safer after a January crash that killed a woman.

A resident who spoke during public comment recounted leaving a message with city staff and asked for an update on safety work at the Cole and Stevenson intersection, saying, “We would still wish to have an update regarding how we're moving forward on the Stevenson Coal area…please, can we get some pedestrian funding?” (the resident requested anonymity in the transcript). The resident described the loss of a neighbor in January and pleaded for action.

John, introduced in the transcript by another commenter, described himself as 76 and a veteran and urged enforcement and engineering changes: “Please put in the lights, put in the signs 25 miles an hour, and take people's cars away and do something, please.” His remarks urged unmarked enforcement and speed monitoring as short-term measures.

Nora Tackenboge, who identified herself as a city resident, told the council that the woman who died was Eileen Griffith and suggested low-cost interim countermeasures — including hand-held red flags for crosswalk users — while permanent work awaits funding: “I just hope that, you know, Eileen's death wasn't in vain.”

Cindy Proctor, a longtime resident, urged the city to reconsider rejected traffic-calming options in neighborhoods including Trilla/Melody and to address missing ADA curb ramps and the placement of ADA parking near the museum. Proctor said she has documented videos of drivers running stop signs and making dangerous maneuvers and warned the city that “it's only a matter of time before there's another liability there.”

Why it matters: Several speakers linked the fatal crash to persistent local safety gaps — missing signage, inconsistent speed enforcement, limited pedestrian infrastructure and noncompliant ADA features — and asked the council both for short-term, low-cost measures and for funding or scheduling of permanent traffic-calming engineering.

Council response and next steps: Committee reports later in the meeting noted the public-safety committee had discussed enforcement and that city staff had been working on related ordinances and camera deployments. The transcript records no specific council motion or funding approval tied to the residents' requests during this meeting; residents explicitly asked for follow-up and funding updates.

The public comment period closed without a formal vote or an immediate commitment to a specific timeline for engineering work. The council's next relevant committee and council meeting dates were announced during committee reports.