As neighbors once again fired up the well-worn #Fix65th hashtag after yet another person was injured on that street, Councilmember Rob Johnson and Mayor Ed Murray announced a plan to expedite an already-budgeted effort to improve safety on NE 65th Street.

“I join my neighbors in their demand that the City #Fix65th,” Johnson said in a joint statement with the Mayor late Thursday. “As a City, we need to emphasize and prioritize investments in critical road safety projects to prevent the next tragedy from occurring. I’m calling on SDOT and Mayor Murray to release a design plan and timeline by Valentine’s Day detailing how they will make NE 65th Street safer because everyone deserves to use our city streets without threat of injury or death.”

The neighbors of NE 65th Street have been very loud and very organized in their calls for a safety project on the street. In June 2016, neighbors organized under the #Fix65th banner and held a march along the street demonstrating the need and public demand for changes. That action was one of many efforts that helped push Councilmember Johnson to add NE 65th Street to the SDOT budget for 2017.

We’ve already waited far too long to fix this street. It’s good to see the city finally moving with the sense of urgency the deaths and serious injuries of our neighbors deserves. SDOT should not only expedite the plan, but also implementation. There are far too many streets like NE 65th Street in our city that need to urgency, as well.

Here’s the full statement from Murray and Johnson: (more…)