Traffic Safety Solutions on Capitol Way/Boulevard are Coming!

Treacy Duerfeldt and Gerald Apple, SCNA board members

We are very pleased with the joint effort by Olympia City Council members and staff, and the leadership of the South Capitol, Wildwood and Governor Stevens neighborhood associations to develop short- and long-term solutions to speeding and traffic safety issues on Capitol Way/Boulevard.

I (Treacy) had a vision of making the South Capitol neighborhood safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers, and I joined the South Capitol Neighborhood Association (SCNA) board for this very reason. I asked my friend Gerry, who serves as vice president of the board, if he would help me with my vision, and Gerry wholeheartedly agreed.

Our effort first began with an invitation to Olympia Mayor Dontae Payne to attend our March 2024 SCNA board meeting. Mayor Payne listened to what we had to say, and then encouraged us to attend city council meetings to share our concerns and proposed solutions with the other city council members.

SCNA board members and neighborhood residents followed through on the mayor’s suggestion and did just that – attended two city council meetings on May 7th and June 18th – and shared speeding data, neighborhood concerns and possible solutions.

After these meetings, city staff invited us to an in-person listening session on June 25th at Olympia City Hall. Representatives from the three neighborhoods participated. Attendees responded to three questions from city staff – what are your experiences, what are your goals for the Capitol corridor, and what short- and long-term solutions do you think would help.

All of our responses were captured, and Max DeJarnett emailed a summary of them to all those who participated. Staff pledged to review them, and follow up in an email about next steps the city would take as a result of the session.

On July 25th, Max sent out an update, letting everyone know city staff was hard at work defining impactful and achievable changes to Capitol Way/Blvd, but needed more time. He sent a second update on Aug 30th to let everyone know staff recommendations were complete, and they were briefing City Council members on them.

On Sept 23rd, city staff briefed the leadership of the three neighborhood associations on their 10 recommended short- and long-term actions for improving Capitol Way/Blvd. These actions are summarized in a two-page Capitol Corridor Improvements flyer.

Nine of the actions are short-term solutions that have been approved and funded for 2024/2025, and residents will start to see them soon. The tenth (long-term) action – resurfacing and reconfiguring Capitol Way/Blvd – is in the city’s Transportation Master Plan, but is dependent upon the city receiving grant funding.

We are also pleased to see the Olympia Police Department and Washington State Patrol working together on traffic enforcement and writing more tickets for speeding and dangerous driving. Hiring is currently underway, and by 2025, the Olympia Police Department should be back to full staff and can then concentrate more on Capitol Way/Blvd.

At the end of the day, we feel this effort paid off. Traffic issues should diminish over time due to our combined efforts. Strategy, communications, and neighborhood engagement are key to accomplishing meaningful, lasting change. We encourage neighborhood residents to bring other issues to the SCNA board. This is just a start of the positive changes we can make together.