The City of Kenmore has two programs that address pedestrian safety and accessibility: The Pedestrian Facilities Plan and the ADA Transition Plan. 

Pedestrian Facilities Plan: With the large need of sidewalks with the City, areas were identified as high priority for constructing pedestrian facilities.  The plan identifies 159 projects proposed throughout the City. Projects were identified by road type, proximity to and influence by schools, proximity to public services, and the number of pedestrian that could potential be served by the project.  All identified projects were scored from several criteria and given a priority number.  Unfortunately, given the high number of projects and cost involved, the process for building new sidewalks will be slow and heavily dependent upon available funding. As such, the City engineering team look for outside funding sources to help speed along the construction of projects.  To be competitive, some projects are pulled out of order as they may rate higher with grant agencies and may get funding. We make every effort to secure funding for the projects in the plan but with limited funds and resources, we cannot address every concern in the short term.

ADA Transition Plan: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan identifies where the existing sidewalks, curb ramps, crosswalks, parking, and push buttons (Elements) do not meet accessibility guidelines.  The plan looks at the number and type of issues with each Element and assess what needs to be done to bring it into compliance with ADA and then it is assigned a priority. Funding has been approved by the City Council to address these concerns, however, the issues are numerous and funding and resources are limited. Our goal is to address as many concerns as possible every other year based upon the transition plan.

Kenmore is a small town, and generally our police department has at most two patrol vehicles active at any time. It’s impossible for Kenmore’s law enforcement officers to happen across all parking violations on their own, and reporting by residents is immensely helpful in making sure Kenmore’s parking restrictions are enforceable, and that enforcement is able to discourage future violations. Parking violations will not be addressed by engineering measures except at the request of the Kenmore Police Department; enforcement by KPD is always the first step in resolving issues related to parking violations. Parking violations can be reported to the police by following the non-emergency report instructions on our website: https://www.kenmorewa.gov/i-want-to/report-a-concern

The City of Kenmore takes the risk of crashes and the risk of severe or fatal crash injury very seriously. The City’s engineering department evaluates crash risk and crash severity through analysis of the crash history on City streets, as well as through the identification of high-risk features, or precursors to crash risk even in areas where severe crashes have not yet occurred, such as elevated travel speeds or frequent pedestrian or cyclist conflicts. Crash history analysis and crash risk analysis are included in the City’s Local Road Safety Plan, which identifies projects which will reduce crash risk and prioritizes those projects in a way that provides the greatest safety improvement with the resources available.

Being able to see and be seen by vehicles in the traffic environment is a critical safety standard for all road users, whether exiting a driveway, navigating an intersection, crossing the street, or any number of other areas where there is a potential for conflicting paths with an oncoming vehicle. When a service request regarding sight line concerns is received for a location where no sight distance study has been conducted recently, the City will conduct a study to evaluate whether travel speeds and sight lines are adequate, and, if not, the City will identify what changes need to be made to meet standards for reasonably safe use of the roadway.

The City of Kenmore collects speed and volume data at over 100 locations each year and maintains a detailed database of travel speed and traffic volume data for all major roads and many neighborhood streets as well. This allows the City to monitor its streets proactively for problematic travel speeds and identify opportunities for traffic calming and speed management projects. Many roads throughout Kenmore do have speeds that are higher than is desired; because budget and staff resources are limited, however, the roads that are prioritized for new projects and traffic calming are those that have the highest safety risk. If there is an issue with problematic travel speeds on a street in Kenmore, it is very likely that the City is already aware of it and working to address the issue as soon as is feasible. If the City receives a service request related to travel speed at a location not near an existing study location, a new study will be scheduled to monitor travel speeds at that location, and travel speed concerns at that location will be prioritized along with all other travel speed concerns throughout the City.