Welcome to Skagit County

October 29th, 2008

Meeting In Alger To Discuss New Traffic Safety Corridor

A public meeting will be held at 7:00 pm, on evening of November 6, at the Alger Community Hall. The purpose of this meeting is to elicit public input into a new Traffic Safety Corridor that will cover a network of County roads in Skagit County. Like previous Corridor projects, this one will center on finding near term, low cost solutions to help solve traffic safety problems.

Identified as the 9 to 5 Corridor, this project will cover County roads that lay north of Cook Road, between State Route 9 and Interstate 5. The Corridor will run north to the Skagit/Whatcom County line. Among the many County roads that will be part of this project are F&S Grade Road, Alger Cain Lake Road, Kelleher Road and Old Highway 99.

During the three year period from January 1, 2005 through December 31, 2007, there were 434 motor vehicle crashes on County roads within this Corridor. The leading causes of crashes were exceeding safe speed, following too closely, failing to yield the right-of-way and driving under the influence of alcohol. There were 18 crashes during this period resulting in either death or serious injuries. The most common cause for these crashes was drinking and driving.

These Corridor projects involve the four “E’s” of traffic safety – Engineering, Enforcement, Education and Emergency Medical Services. When specific problems are identified, a determination is made as to which of these four categories can best solve the problems, and a plan of action is put into place.

Three Corridor projects have already been completed in Skagit County. All of them have been on State Route 20, stretching from the Skagit/Island County line eastward to Rockport. The new 9 to 5 Corridor will be the first Corridor project to focus on County roads.

Some of the problems existing within this Corridor have already been identified. The purpose of the meeting in Alger is to obtain input from the public as to what are perceived to be the most troublesome traffic safety problems within the Corridor. The Task Force that will be convened to work on this project will include representation from both the private and public sectors. These Corridor projects are under the direction of the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, in Olympia. The Washington State Department of Transportation is a partner in this project, as are many public agencies within Skagit County.