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Residents urge immediate pedestrian-safety fixes after fatal crash at Cole and Stevenson
Summary
Residents told the council they lost a neighbor at the Cole and Stevenson intersection and asked for near-term traffic-calming measures and funding rather than long delays; multiple commenters cited speeding, missing ADA ramps and repeat near-misses.
Residents pressed the Enumclaw City Council on June 22 for faster action after a January crash at the Cole and Stevenson intersection that later resulted in a death.
At the start of public comment a resident described contacting city staff previously and urged the council to “get some pedestrian funding” without waiting months. The resident said the victim, a woman hit in January, later died and asked for an update on safety improvements.
A second commenter, a Navy veteran, urged the city to “put in the lights, put in the signs 25 miles an hour” and suggested targeted enforcement or speed surveys at peak times to stop “people [who] just zoom by.”
Nora Tackenboge, who identified herself as a city resident, urged temporary measures such as handheld red flags at the intersection to increase driver awareness until larger projects are funded: “I just hope that… Eileen’s death wasn’t in vain.”
Cindy Proctor, a longtime resident, described repeated failures to stop on residential streets, missing ADA-compliant curb cuts at cul-de-sacs, increased cut-through traffic while Cole Street is closed, and vehicle maneuvers that reduce visibility. Proctor said she has documented video evidence of drivers running stop signs and asked the council to reconsider earlier denials of traffic-calming measures and to explore lower-cost options such as reflective markings and improved crosswalk signage.
Why it matters: multiple residents tied the public-safety request to a recent fatality and to recurring neighborhood-safety concerns (speeding, visibility, ADA access). Several commenters asked for short-term, low-cost fixes while staff pursues longer-term engineering or funding solutions.
Council response and next steps: public-safety committee updates earlier in the meeting noted plans for enforcement education and an ordinance addressing electric motorcycles; no formal direction or funding decision for Cole/Stevenson was recorded during the meeting. The council did not adopt an action on the intersection during this session.
