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Residents urge immediate pedestrian-safety fixes after fatal crash at Cole/Stevenson corner
Summary
Several residents told the Enumclaw City Council June 22 that recent crashes — including a January collision that later proved fatal — show a need for quicker pedestrian-safety measures at the Cole/Stevenson area and elsewhere in the city; they urged interim low-cost fixes, enforcement and engineering changes while longer projects wait for funding.
At the June 22 Enumclaw City Council meeting, multiple residents urged the city to speed up pedestrian-safety work at the Cole and Stevenson intersection after a January collision that later resulted in the victim's death.
A resident who identified herself during public comment said she had reported the crash weeks earlier and asked for an update on progress: “We would still wish to have an update regarding how we're moving forward on the Stevenson Coal area,” she said, adding that the city should not wait until January to act.
John, a longtime resident and Navy veteran who spoke next, described visible speeding at the corner and urged enforcement: “One way to see that is sit in an unmarked car and with a speed gun,” he said, and suggested lights, 25-mph signage and stricter penalties to prevent further deaths.
Nora Tackenboge, a city resident, reiterated that Eileen Griffith died after a vehicle failed to stop and asked whether low-cost interim measures could be used while funding is pursued: “Could we maybe get those little flags that you see in all the other cities…anything to help with people so that you can try and have eye contact with people,” she said.
Cindy Proctor, who said she has raised safety concerns three times, described multiple hazards in the Trella/Melody and Rilla/Melody corridors, including missing ADA curb ramps and an increase in cut-through traffic after Cole Street closures. She said she has documented near-miss videos and urged the city to reconsider practical, lower-cost traffic-calming options and better ADA access.
Why it matters: speakers said the areas in question are daily walking routes used by children, seniors and people with mobility devices and that a fatality underscores the urgency. They asked for both immediate, low-cost interventions (flags, signage, enforcement) and a timeline for engineering fixes.
What the council did: the public-comment period concluded with the requests on the record; councilmembers did not vote tonight on a specific safety project during this meeting. Staff and relevant committees were not recorded as committing to a timeline in the meeting transcript.
