Bellingham safety campaign calls attention to cyclist, pedestrian injuries
You’ve seen them around town this week — those yellow signs near the road that say “Our neighbor was injured here.”
It’s part of the recently announced Safe Streets Bellingham campaign, a grassroots effort of community organizations led by Walk and Roll Bellingham that aims to persuade city officials to make quick and relatively inexpensive changes that supporters say will make roadways safer for everyone, especially those on foot or bicycle.
Volunteers installed the signs last week on Cornwall Avenue, F Street, Broadway and Sunset Drive in Bellingham, Walk and Roll’s Jamin Agosti told The Bellingham Herald in an interview at a corner near Bellingham High School where several signs are posted.
Locations were chosen by using crash data going back 10 years from the Washington State Department of Transportation, Agosti said.
“We decided to put signs up on Cornwall because you can see the scale of traffic deaths and traffic injuries on almost every single block from downtown all the way to Indiana. Someone has been injured or killed on almost every block in the last decade,” he said.
Dozens of local residents, businesses and organizations have signed on to the Safe Streets coalition, according to the website.
Its efforts revolve around “quick build” projects that make a difference, including:
- Physical separation for pedestrians and cyclists, rather than painted lines.
- A connected network of crossings and “low-stress” bike lanes.
- Easy to build projects that are part of existing city plans.
- Designs that are safe enough for both young and old.
“The Safe Streets campaign is about deploying infrastructure faster. The city of Bellingham has been really good at building out kind of ‘best in class’ infrastructure projects that take seven to 10 years and cost 10-20-30 million dollars. What were asking is for the city to deploy infrastructure cheaper and faster because that’s really what it takes to address injuries and deaths on city streets,” Agosti said.
Traffic deaths and injuries have tripled across Bellingham over the past five years compared to the five years before that, according to previous Herald reporting and data obtained from the Washington State Department of Transportation:
- From 2015 to 2019, there were five traffic deaths on Bellingham streets. That includes a 2017 crash that killed a bicyclist.
- From 2020-2024, there were 15 traffic fatalities, including 10 bicyclists and pedestrians. Four people were killed on Bellingham streets in 2025, including one pedestrian.
Partly in response to that toll, the city recently dropped its default speed limit to 20 mph from 25 mph, meaning that 20 mph is the limit for neighborhood streets and many other roadways across the city.
Walk and Roll Bellingham kicked off the Safe Streets program on June 27 with a celebratory ride. According to previous Herald reporting, key parts of the program include:
- Converting on-street parking to paint-and-post bike lanes along 10 commuter routes, including Boulevard, South State Street, North Forest Street, Cornwall Avenue, Sunset Drive, F Street, Roeder Avenue, Squalicum Way, 32nd Street, 21st Street, Samish Way, Northwest Avenue, Bennett Drive, Pacific Street and Barkley Boulevard.
- Protecting existing bike lanes with vertical separation along six routes.
- Add crossing improvements and curb extensions at key intersections.
- Start a citywide Neighborhood Slow Streets program that lowers speeds to 15 mph and discourages freight traffic and short-cutters.
Public Works Director Joel Pfundt told The Herald that city officials are considering Walk and Roll’s proposal.
“While we don’t think it’s as simple as installing paint and posts on every corridor that’s been identified, we’re reviewing the proposal to better understand where quick-build approaches may help us deliver improvements sooner and where additional design, coordination, alternatives analysis or more permanent solutions may be needed,” Pfundt told The Herald for a previous story.
