Wilson Speeds Up Safety Projects on Some of South Seattle's Most Dangerous Streets

Seated at a desk outside Cleveland High School on Aug. 21, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson signed an executive order "furthering a commitment to traffic safety across the city." The executive order aims to expedite traffic-calming projects, accelerate implementation of key safety projects, transition the city to safer vehicles, and enforce speeding and other traffic violations.

"Everyone should be able to get where they need to go safely, no matter how they travel," said Wilson. "[But] the simple truth is that, despite having a Vision Zero commitment on the books for over a decade, Seattle has not met our goals on transportation safety."

The city launched Vision Zero in February 2015 with the goal of eliminating all traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030. But in 2025, 30 people died and 221 were seriously injured in traffic collisions on Seattle streets, according to the executive order. From 2020 through 2024, South Seattle had the city's highest number of fatal collisions and serious traffic injuries. Rainier Avenue South and MLK Jr. Way South are among priority corridors on Seattle's High Injury Network, which identifies streets with a history of fatal and serious-injury crashes.

Wilson said she chose to sign the executive order at Cleveland High School because the neighboring community had successfully advocated for traffic safety, prompting the mayor's office to respond.

Aaron Roche, a Cleveland High School cross country coach, said that the city will install pedestrian safety measures at the intersection of 13th Avenue South and South Lucile Street to help keep his athletes and other students safe while crossing the street.

The Cleveland Playfield Traffic Safety Improvement Project "has been advocating for traffic calming for over a year-and-a-half now," he said. "I can't imagine something getting implemented within a year, and then the promise that it's going to be happening. And now the work's going to be done right after the start of the school year."

Councilmember Eddie Lin said the city should treat traffic safety as part of a broader public safety plan. "Youth gun violence has been devastating again for South Seattle in particular. But for some reason we talk about traffic safety differently," Lin said. "We too often see [traffic deaths] as just part of everyday life, as if it's something that we have the ability to change or control."

The executive order accelerates the implementation of traffic-calming projects on high-speed arterials, such as MLK Jr. Way South, as well as 19 safety upgrades at high-collision locations, including some on Rainier Avenue South.

But compared to some traffic-calming projects in neighborhoods like Ballard, similar projects in South Seattle lack amenities, such as trees.

At the press conference, Wilson said the executive order will ensure traffic safety projects in South Seattle receive the same planning, results, and beautification, such as street trees, as projects in other parts of the city.

"I think that tree canopy is very important and definitely South Seattle and some other neighborhoods of our city are behind when it comes to having tree canopy," said Wilson.

After the press conference, Angela Brady, acting director of the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT), said the department uses a checklist to ensure projects not only address traffic safety issues but also include amenities such as trees.

Brady said the main challenge with adding trees to traffic projects is what lies beneath the streets. "If you peel back the surface of all the streets, you would be shocked about how many utilities are underground."

Lin said that the city has "to dedicate some resources" to beautification efforts in traffic-calming projects. He said he would "absolutely" put pressure on SDOT to ensure South Seattle gets the same amenities as other neighborhoods. He added, "It's also helpful when the community also keeps up the pressure. Because that's really, oftentimes, what it takes."