Some town officials are puzzled by a draft report that states La Conner has a higher proportion of “serious injuries and deaths” than the rest of Skagit County when it comes to accidents involving bicyclists and pedestrians.
In December, the Skagit Council of Governments shared the draft of the Regional Safety Action Plan, which identifies threats to safety and proposes solutions to minimize harm and enhance mobility.
Despite Sergeant Brad Holmes being unaware of any fatal or serious bicyclist and pedestrian injuries in town, La Conner somehow has the highest rate of such accidents in proportion to its population size — 145% above county average, according to the draft. For comparison, Burlington has an 83% rate, placing second.
“I would question the validity of the stats,” Holmes wrote in an email.
Public Works Director Brian Lease was equally confused. In the scenario of a serious injury or fatality, his department would be notified by either the fire department or the sheriff’s office in order to address whatever infrastructural issue that may have contributed to the accident. So far, he said, he has not been contacted.
“I read this stuff and I’m not understanding how they’re getting these numbers and placing them in La Conner,” he said.
The draft’s proposed solutions also make little sense for the town, Lease said. For example, it recommends reducing the lanes from four to three, when there are no four-lane roads in or near La Conner. It also recommends separated bike lanes, but Lease said there is no room to add them and that such a project would require a complete redesign and reconstruction of the road. Local roads however do feature sharrows, or markings that indicate a lane that can be shared by vehicles and bicycles, he said.
Town Administrator Scott Thomas wrote in an email that he believes the confusion might be due to the report using incidents that were not within the town’s boundaries.
Lease said he is concerned these findings may prompt people to avoid La Conner. On the other hand, they would make the town more likely to receive grant funding to improve pedestrian and bike infrastructure. Thomas said he hopes the report would allow the town to pursue funding to address concerns with the Morris and Maple intersection, as well as the disconnected sidewalks on Maple that lead up to the bridge (though, he added, the bridge approach belongs to the county).
Lease said La Conner is safe for those who walk and bike. Fire Chief Aaron Reinstra, who said he had not read the draft, echoed this statement, adding that he could not recall any major accidents aside from kids getting “scraped up” while skating or playing outside.
SCOG did not respond to a request for comment. La Conner has until Jan. 16 to submit a comment for review.
Luisa Loi is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.
