FAIRWOOD, Wash. — It has been seven months since a woman and three children were killed near Renton by a driver going more than 100 miles per hour.
The crash happened at the intersection of 140th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 192nd Street. Neighbors know 140th Avenue Southeast in the Fairwood community as a hotspot for speeding and reckless driving.
“We're seeing people killed and it's scary,” said James Carver, who has lived in Fairwood for 20 years. “Something's got to change.”
King County just announced that this fall, they are lowering the speed limit of the road from 40 mph to 35 mph and making additional traffic safety changes.
The county said that in public comment it received, only around 25% of people supported lowering the speed limit.
“If there's no one to enforce it and we're just talking about a reduction in speed, we haven't changed anything. It's just a matter of time before we're back here talking about another dead kid,” said Carver.
Due to the community not thinking the speed limit reduction will make the road safer, the county said it is also implementing other traffic safety changes.
The county plans to install more speed limit and speed radar signs and limit the time of day that a yellow flashing left turn arrow is allowed to be turned on at the intersection of 140th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 192nd Street.
The county is also planning to finalize a traffic safety analysis of the road in December to see what further changes can be made.
Neighbors say structural changes, like a roundabout, are needed to slow drivers down on the long stretch of road.
“Roundabouts just slow the whole road down. It keeps flowing, but it doesn't stop people. Therefore, it's not creating that race mentality; hurry up and beat the lights,” said Carver.
Other neighbors feel like the county hasn't done enough or invested enough money in the road to make it safe.
“It is a dangerous road, but it's the officials that have allowed this road to be dangerous,” said Jacqueline Robertson, who has lived in Fairwood for around 30 years.
Another safety measure the county plans to implement this fall is installing pylons along the center lane, but Robertson wants to see a median installed.
“People are not going to run over them because it's cement, but a reckless driver can easily run over the pylons,” said Robertson.
The county said the pylons are an intermediary and inexpensive solution to make the public safer now and that a median barrier will be reviewed in the current traffic safety analysis of the road.
Neighbors said the changes coming this fall are a good start but that more needs to be done.
King County told KING 5 it is in a “county road funding crisis” and is heavily dependent on state and federal grants.