Drivers must do better avoiding light rail trains on MLK Way

Putting cars, bikes, and pedestrians on the same road as light rail trains has been a dangerous combination since Sound Transit opened service on Martin Luther King Jr. Way in 2009.

There have been more than 100 crashes and several deaths on the corridor. But the worst problem has nothing to do with the trains.

Light rail trains whiz down MLK with cars, pedestrians, and bikes stopped just feet away. There are 27 at-grade crossings on the corridor, all potential places for tragedy. I met with Sound Transit’s David Jackson at MLK and South Dawson Street, one of the more dangerous intersections on the alignment. The biggest problem with cars and trains sharing the same road?

“Our biggest incident we have at MLK with the trains running down the track is illegal left turns,” Jackson said.

Did you know 63% of all crashes between trains and cars are caused by drivers making illegal left turns, even though there are large signs posted that left turns are not allowed. And it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realize that the car is going to lose every time.

“Trains are bigger and faster than many people expect,” Jackson said. “They cannot stop on a dime, like a Toyota. It takes a while for them to stop. If you think you’re going to beat the train, you might not.”

Sound Transit adding new striping on MLK Way

Sound Transit is trying to get the public’s attention at four particularly bad intersections with new striping just before the tracks.

Sound Transit is working to prevent crashes on MLK Way. (Photo: Chris Sullivan, KIRO Newsradio)

“We’ve also just added these dynamic pavement markings, which are designed to keep people out of the dynamic envelope of the train,” Jackson said. “If you’re on those crisscross paintings, you are in a dangerous spot.”

I’m not sure if this paint job will work where the giant red and white signs have not, but it’s one more way Sound Transit is trying to make this corridor safer.

“That’s all we’re designing to do here,” Jackson said. “We’re designed to make it easy to pay attention, to make doing the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult.”

Sound Transit is painting the intersections—two near the Columbia City Station and two near the Rainier Beach Station—over the next few weeks.

It’s just one more tool that Sound Transit is trying out to make the MLK Way corridor better. It is even considering pedestrian gates to prevent people from crossing the tracks at these intersections.

“I think we’ve gotten better,” Jackson said. “People are aware of the issue. We’re doing more awareness campaigns so that people understand what the dangers are and why it’s important they follow the rules of the road here, and also the rules for pedestrians.”

There have been 25 train versus pedestrian or bicyclist crashes on the corridor since it opened 16 years ago.

Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here. Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on X.

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