‘Highway of Death’ claims first life of 2014 as WSDOT continues safety efforts on Hwy. 2

Snohomish County’s infamous “Highway of Death” claimed its first life of 2014 on Monday, when a truck driver drifted across the center line and hit another car head on.

If this year is like any other, roughly four more people driving Highway 2 from Everett to Stevens Pass will die this year.

Sixty-nine people have died on the dark, narrow and sometimes windy two-lane road since 1999.

Eighteen of those deaths have happened since the highway was declared a safety corridor in 2009, and the state began making improvements.

According to Kris Olson with the Washington State Department of Transportation, “the state has invested over $90 million in US-2 for improvements, for maintenance, for safety projects including a rumble strip project where we installed rumble strips all the way up to the pass.”

But retired state trooper and chairman of the U.S. Safety Coalition Fred Walser says it’s not enough.

“That’s resulted in some folks waking up that have drifted across the center line. Unfortunately, a six-inch wide rumble bar does not prevent drunk drivers or people that flat fall asleep from being across the center line and hitting someone before they wake up,” says Wasler.

He believes the highway needs more and has been lobbying the state Legislature strenuously to get funds to put cable barrier system and LED lights down the center of the roadway.

“Unfortunately, the folks at WSDOT don’t see this as a feasible, viable alternative,” says Wasler.

Olson says it’s because there just isn’t room on the roadway. “The problem with installing any kind of median barrier, whether it’s concrete or cable, it would require significant widening of US-2.”

In some spots on the highway, there are cliffs and water just off the sides of the road.

The $91.6 million the state has spent on improvements in the last six years has had an impact on safety. More drivers are aware of the conditions and dangers of the road. Accidents have gone down, especially with new dedicated turn-lanes in spots.

But still, fatal cross-over accidents are happening, and Walser won’t rest until something is done about it.

“Things have improved significantly on US-2 in the past year – and we want to keep going. We’re not going to just fold our tent and leave now. One death is too many on US-2,” says Walser.

After Monday’s crash, the counter on the safety sign switched back to zero. It tracks how many days it’s been since a serious or fatal crash.

It made up to 75 days this time, and it’s only a matter of time before it is reset to zero again.