A new traffic safety project will aim to reduce the number of high-speed, fatal crashes along an 11-mile highway corridor that runs through Renton, Kent and Auburn.
The King County Target Zero Traffic Safety Coalition has a special grant project awarded to it from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission to implement and expand education, outreach and enforcement along the stretch of roadway known as 140th Avenue SE from Highway 169 (Renton/Fairwood) south through Kent/Auburn where it becomes 132nd Avenue SE to Highway 18.
“This program was developed in response to widespread public engagement following a number of tragic, fatal, high-speed crashes along this corridor,” said Sara Hallstead, Target Zero manager for South King County in a March 10 press release. “By working with our partners and community members and using data from our new study, we were able to pinpoint specific driving behaviors that are leading to crashes and address them using a Safe System approach.”
The $125,000 grant for the project can only fund education and enforcement strategies – not engineering or infrastructure, according to an email from a King County Target Zero Traffic Safety Coalition spokesperson.
The Washington Traffic Safety Commission said it received considerable feedback from the community asking for the road to be made safer.
The project uses a combination of best practice recommendations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s “Countermeasures That Work” and successes with previous corridor projects in Washington such as Lake City Way in Seattle, according to the press release.
Speeding has been a constant problem along the corridor, according to the commission. Studies show at least 85% of the drivers are consistently driving 10 mph to 15 mph above the posted speed limit of 35 mph to 40 mph, resulting in emergency braking.
To develop this campaign, King County Target Zero managers worked with jurisdictional partners from Renton, Kent, Auburn, and unincorporated King County, as well as community members who have been impacted by crashes along this corridor.
These community members include Michael and Shellie Coury, whose son Gabriel Coury, 12, was killed along this corridor in July 2023 by an impaired driver.
“Despite our personal tragedy with the loss of our son Gabriel, we are honored to partner with our community leaders and law enforcement to help make our streets safer,” Michael Coury said in the press release. “It brings our family a small sense of peace as we continue to honor Gabriel by making ourselves a part of these sorts of initiatives and improvements. No person or family should ever have to endure the type of loss we, and many others, have had to experience due to completely and totally avoidable circumstances.”
Gabriel Coury was riding a scooter along 132nd Avenue SE near SE 231st Way when Carson Quinlin, 19, of Maple Valley, driving drunk and up to 60 mph in a 35 mph zone, struck the boy and killed him.
Quinlin, who pleaded guilty in March 2024 to vehicular homicide and possession of a pistol or semiautomatic assault rifle by a person under 21, received a prison sentence in April 2024 of 78 months (six years, six months) along with 18 months of community custody, according to court documents. The sentencing range, set by state lawmakers, is 78 to 102 months.
The most recent fatal crash along the corridor was March 19, 2024, when a woman and three children were killed in a high-speed collision at the intersection of South 192nd Street and 140th Avenue Southeast in the Cascade-Fairwood area. An 18-year-old Kent man reportedly was driving about 112 mph when he ran a red light, according to court documents.
Chase Daniel Jones pleaded not guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide charges. He has a trial date of May 19, 2025, although that date could be continued if attorneys ask for more time to prepare the case. Jones remains on electronic home detention.
In another Kent case along the corridor, a 27-year-old bicyclist was killed in August 2023 in a collision with a box truck at the intersection of Kent-Kangley Road and 132nd Avenue SE. Carlos Gutierrez-Tinsley died of multiple blunt force injuries, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office Sept. 1 media report.
Nine fatal crashes occurred along the corridor between 2012 and 2023, according to Washington Traffic Safety Commission crash statistics. The fatal crash in 2024 near Renton puts the number at 10.
New initiatives
In order to reach a vast array of community members, traffic safety officials are utilizing a number of new initiatives, including delivering the Teen Target Zero and Teens in the Driver Seat training programs to high schools located along the corridor; implementing the Safest Ride program to elementary schools, which focuses on young children riding in the back seat; conducting high visibility speed enforcement patrols; and purchasing signage and educational materials to educate drivers on the dangers of speed and the importance of traffic safety.
The Washington Traffic Safety Commission will also assist in gathering driver telematics (encompassing telecommunications, vehicular technologies, electrical engineering and computer science) data to help better understand the driving issues along this roadway and highlight areas where the worst driving behaviors occur to better target intervention locations.
Community meeting
The King County Target Zero Coalition is hosting community engagement events so residents can learn more and provide feedback about the work being done along the corridor.
The first of these events is from 5 to 8 p.m. March 27 at Sunrise Elementary School, 22300 132nd Ave. SE, in Kent.
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