Seattle mayor signs executive order to speed up Vision Zero including work where cyclist was hit and killed at 12th and Yesler

(Image: City of Seattle)

Mayor Katie Wilson signed her executive order to accelerate Seattle’s Vision Zero initiative in an event Friday near an underway pedestrian safety construction project outside South Seattle’s Cleveland High School.

“Seattle should be a city where families can feel safe getting where they need to go — whether they’re walking their kids to school, biking to the park, or taking transit,” Wilson said in an announcement of the order. “We’ve made important progress, but every serious injury or death on our streets is one too many. We know what makes our streets safer. This Executive Order is about turning our commitment into action — getting proven safety improvements on the ground and bringing the full City together to prevent serious injuries and deaths.”

The executive order directs the Seattle Department of Transportation to fast-track high-priority safety improvements across high-crash corridors. Key measures include completing the SW Wildwood Place protected bike lane by late 2026, advancing Phase 2 of the 12th Ave S Safety Project, increasing intersection visibility through daylighting, and upgrading 19 high-collision locations along major routes like Aurora Ave N and Rainier Ave S.

The order including the emphasis on 12th Ave comes following the June tragedy at 12th and Yesler that took the life of 30-year-old Christian Salyer.

To reduce dangerous driving speeds, the directive also deploys pedestrian head-start signals at 40 intersections, adjusts signal timing, and authorizes the phased rollout of automated traffic safety cameras across up to 10 locations. The specific list of the 40 intersections and other locations were not included in the announcement.

Additionally, the order establishes a citywide interdepartmental safety team, creates a public-facing traffic safety dashboard, and targets expanding the School Streets Program to 40% of eligible schools. The city will also mandate enhanced safety features on municipal and contractor fleets while lobbying the Washington State Legislature to lower the legal blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) limit to 0.05%.

The order joins legislative efforts underway at the city council under the Seattle SAFER Streets Act, a legislative package introduced last week to update the Seattle Municipal Code to formally adopt SDOT’s Vision Zero Action Plan as the city’s official guide, requiring the Safe System Approach to guide arterial speed limits, infrastructure planning, and intersection reviews.

Seattle’s primary Vision Zero goal is to eliminate all traffic fatalities and serious injuries on city streets by 2030. In 2025, Seattle recorded 27 traffic fatalities, with pedestrian deaths — like the collision with a food delivery driver that killed Lilli Moreno as she crossed E Pine in February — representing the majority of fatal incidents across the city.

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