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Search the Noteworthy Practices database Vision Zero Success Story – InfrastructureRainier Avenue South Redesign – Seattle, WashingtonPublication Year: 2020BackgroundThe Rainier Valley neighborhood located in southeast Seattle is home to one of the City’s most culture-rich and diverse populations. Rainier Avenue South is a principal arterial street that connects residents and communities along the former regional rail corridor. The area surrounding Rainier Avenue South includes many land uses like retail, schools, and parks. These uses are pertinent to pedestrians, cyclists, transit users, and drivers. It was also the corridor with the highest number of traffic crashes in Seattle; the corridor had a per mile crash rate that is greater than other streets in the City that carry more than twice the volume of traffic as on Rainier Ave South. The City launched Vision Zero efforts in 2014, one of which was working with the community to redesign a one-mile segment of the eight-mile corridor for the pilot phase of the Rainier Avenue South Corridor Safety Project. The City implemented changes to the piloted segment between South Alaska Street and South Kenny Street over a weekend in August 2015. Rainier Avenue South carries over 13,000 people daily on transit, is a freight and emergency response route, and serves between 19,700 and 26,600 vehicles each weekday. Studies in the corridor show that between 1,000 and 2,000 vehicles per day travel along the corridor at a speed greater than 10 miles above the 30 miles per hour (mph) posted speed limit. The total average number of annual crashes over the 10 years prior to the redesign was 95 crashes, 9 serious injury crashes, and 1 fatality crash. |