Walla Walla County has finalized their Safety Action Plan.
This plan is the first step towards achieving the County's goal of eliminating all traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2034.

What is in the Safety Action Plan?
  • A New Approach to Safety: The Safe System Approach represents a shift in road safety philosophy and is a holistic approach that aims to reduce the likelihood of crashes occurring as well as the likelihood that crashes result in severe injuries or death. This plan uses the Safe System Approach as the framework.
  • Emphasis Areas: The plan identifies five areas that reflect common crash contributing factors as well as the priorities of the community. The Emphasis Areas guide the plan.
  • 15 High-Injury Locations: These locations have the most severe and frequent crash histories in the County. These locations make-up the County's High-Injury Network and are locations where safety improvements should be prioritized in order to have the great impact on reducing future crashes.
  • Safety Strategies: Safety strategies are identified for each of the 15 High-Injury Locations. Additionally, a list of Preferred Safety Strategies is also provided; these can be implemented anywhere in the County where certain roadway characteristics lead to a high rate of crashes. The strategies include engineering solutions as well as educational safety programs and policy updates. A toolbox of specific safety improvements is also included in the plan that address safety challenges experienced by the small communities within the County.

What did we hear at the first Virtual Open House Event?

Open House #1 was held in April and May 2024 virtually. At this event, the crash data trends and preliminary Emphasis Areas were presented to the public. Advertisement for the virtual Open House was emailed out to partner agencies and interested parties and organizations, posted on social media, and posted on the County's website in both English and Spanish. Feedback was solicited from the public through a two-question survey and a comment map. There were 280 unique website views, 75 map comments and nearly 40 surveys filled out. The survey responses and map comments reflected the following main concerns from the public regarding safety on Walla Walla County roads

* Roadway shoulders are too narrow, especially on popular biking routes
* Poor sight distance at intersections
​* Speeding
Site powered by DKS Associates