Shoreline reviews 2024 traffic report; bike crashes rise while serious crashes dip

Shoreline’s transportation manager presented the city’s 2024 Annual Traffic Report on Monday, highlighting a drop in fatal and serious‑injury crashes to eight but an increase in bicycle‑involved collisions.

Kendra Dudinsky said the city is undertaking a Safe Streets for All grant to improve analysis of severe crashes and to better prioritize projects in the TIP and CIP; the new approach will evaluate full corridors and cross‑jurisdictional interchanges, which may increase historic counts for consistency in future reporting. “This work should wrap up by 2026,” she said.

Staff identified problem intersections (including a new hot spot at 8th Avenue and Richmond Beach Road) and cited recent countermeasures: signal‑timing changes and leading pedestrian interval phasing installed at several locations, centerline curb and new striping projects, and other low‑cost safety treatments. Dudinsky also said a draft ordinance on automated enforcement will come to council in the first quarter of next year.

Public commenters and councilmembers pressed staff for quicker rollouts of protected bike lanes, more visible speed signage near schools, and better enforcement. Cycling advocates argued the city should build infrastructure safe for children, older adults and less‑experienced riders rather than relying on paint alone. Police and staff noted an increase in traffic enforcement staffing in 2025 and described capacity limits for targeted enforcement on busy state routes.

Councilmembers praised recent signal changes that appear to have reduced crashes at locations where timing has been adjusted, and asked staff to continue expanding leading pedestrian intervals and to report back on the Safe Streets grant work.