The City of Everett has published its completed Vision Zero Safety Action Plan, a roadmap for eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries on city streets.
The plan, available on the city's Vision Zero webpage, identifies 16 high-priority locations where crashes are most severe. It recommends engineering fixes, policy changes and roadway improvements that will feed into Everett's six-year transportation improvement plan (TIP).
The effort cost $985,454. A federal grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets and Roads for All program, administered by the Puget Sound Regional Council, covered $788,363.
The City of Everett paid the remaining $197,091 from local funds. Everett joined five other area cities and Pierce County to apply for the grant.
What the data shows
The plan's crash analysis found that the three most common crash types resulting in a fatality or serious injury in Everett are pedestrian-involved crashes, angle crashes and left-turn crashes, according to Technical Memorandum #2, which was finalized in August 2025.
The top three factors contributing to fatal and serious injury crashes are failure to yield right-of-way, exceeding safe speeds and impairment. In 17% of fatal and serious injury crashes, the contributing factor could not be determined.
Nearly 13% of all crashes in Everett involved a parked or parking vehicle, though none resulted in a fatality and very few caused serious injuries.
Speeding, while not in the top three causes of fatal and serious injury crashes, ranked in the top five causes across all crash types.
Pedestrian safety a top concern
Pedestrian safety emerged as a central theme. An online engagement tool drew 314 unique comments and 87 supporting replies from 111 participants.
The most-commented topic was safety concerns for people walking, which drew 111 comments on its own.
The plan's project team also met with neighborhood associations between January and March 2025 and attended the Council of Neighborhoods meeting in February 2025, where representatives from each of Everett's 19 neighborhood associations could provide input.
County-level data underscores the stakes. Traffic crashes in Snohomish County increased 30% since 2020 to 12,458 in 2025, according to a Lynnwood Times commentary published in August.
People biking and walking were involved in just 2.5% of those crashes but represented 35% of traffic fatalities and serious injuries.
What comes next
The 16 high-priority locations consist of 12 road segments and four intersections. The plan includes individual project sheets with specific engineering strategies for each site, plus a separate corridor vision for Evergreen Way.
The planning process does not include funding for specific projects. But having a published Vision Zero-style action plan is a prerequisite for the city to apply for future federal implementation grants under the Safe Streets and Roads for All program, according to the city's webpage.
Corey Hert, city traffic engineer, is the listed contact for the plan and can be reached at 425-257-8887.
