Pasco presents final draft safety action plan aimed at cutting fatal, serious crashes by half

The City of Pasco presented a final draft of its Comprehensive Safety Action Plan (CSAP) at Thursday's council workshop, saying the plan aims to drive down fatal and serious-injury crashes and position the city to pursue federal and state safety grant funding.

Veronica Sullivan, consultant with DKS Associates, briefed council on a decade of crash data and recommended a package of infrastructure and non-infrastructure measures. "We chose that year because it aligned really well with our comprehensive plan," Sullivan said of the plan's 2035 target to cut fatal and serious crashes by half.

The plan, supported by a technical advisory committee that included local police and fire, identified clusters of severe crashes near Burn Road/Route 68 and in the downtown area and prioritized six infrastructure projects: access-management treatments (raised curbs/turning hardening), enhanced pedestrian crossings (rectangular rapid-flashing beacons), intersection visibility and signage improvements, signal upgrades with improved nighttime conspicuity, lighting enhancements in dark corridors, and the Road 76 overpass to better connect northern and southern Pasco. The plan also recommends non-infrastructure work, such as education, enforcement partnerships and youth driver outreach.

Sullivan said the city conducted targeted multilingual engagement over the past year (four in-person events, two virtual events and a public comment map) and collected more than 440 comments informing project priorities. Staff indicated the schedule anticipates a council resolution to adopt the plan next week so Pasco can apply for the WSDOT Highway Improvement Safety grant, which has a March 6 application deadline.

Councilmembers praised the public-engagement effort and asked for data on impairment and young-driver involvement; Sullivan said impaired drivers accounted for 18% of fatal/serious crashes and young drivers 38% of that subset. A member of the public, Laurie Thompson, told the council about repeat collisions at a nearby intersection and urged rapid action.

Staff said comments and last-minute edits would be incorporated ahead of the adoption resolution and that securing the CSAP is intended to strengthen Pasco's eligibility for available safety grant dollars.