Mother fights for a safer U.S. 2

Published 11:42 pm Monday, April 5, 2010

SULTAN — Gloria Wolter brought two white candles to her son’s highway-side memorial on Thursday.

As cars and trucks roared by, she quietly lit the candles. Her eyes welled up with tears.

She visits the U.S. 2 intersection at Rice Road every day, checking on the collection of stuffed animals, flowers and crosses.

“I’m not here to remember him, because this isn’t him,” she said. “I’m just here to make sure people don’t forget what happened.”

Wolter, 65, wants a stoplight at Rice Road and U.S. 2. She wants lower speed limits. She wants action and she just might get it.

In the past month, she has lobbied the state Department of Transportation and community leaders to rework the intersection. Her message is getting through to some degree.

“It’s obvious she’s going to do whatever she can to save lives,” said state Rep. Kirk Pearson, R-Monroe.

Wolter, who has lived in Sultan for 42 years, became involved in the campaign to improve safety on U.S. 2 after her son, Bruce Ramsey, was killed Feb. 17 on the highway.

Since 1999, 53 people including Ramsey have died on U.S. 2 between Snohomish and Stevens Pass.

Ramsey, 47, worked as a correction’s officer at the Monroe Correctional Complex. He liked to unwind with an afternoon ride on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, before heading home to his wife and two kids.

On Feb. 17, as Ramsey neared the McDonald’s at Rice Road, a 16-year-old girl pulled onto the highway. He didn’t have time to stop.

The teen’s view of Ramsey may have been blocked by a third vehicle pulling out of the McDonald’s business park, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said.

A nearly monthlong investigation by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office found the teen at fault in the accident, Hover said. The girl was cited for second-degree negligent driving, which in this case carries a fine of $550.

The small penalty stings Ramsey’s mother.

“I’m really hurt,” Wolter said. “But on the other side of that coin, I don’t want a young life destroyed either.”

Instead, she’s trying to save lives.

The intersection at Rice Road and U.S. 2 has been the site of 20 collisions since 2005, according to the state Department of Transportation. Ramsey’s wreck was the only fatality in that group.

The intersection wasn’t on a list of U.S. 2 priorities singled out by community leaders in past meetings with DOT officials.

Wolter has people wondering if that should change.

“When Gloria puts her mind to something, she does it, and bless her heart, good for her,” said Fred Walser, chairman of the U.S. 2 Safety Coalition.

Wolter attended the past two coalition meetings to talk about the intersection. She got the attention of Lorena Eng, DOT’s northwest regional administrator.

Originally, Eng thought changes at the intersection weren’t justified — that, based on the evidence, the highway wasn’t to blame for the February accident.

Wolter, however, argued that the layout of the intersection led to chaotic driving conditions.

Eng agreed to reconsider. Traffic engineers now are looking at ways to reconfigure turn lanes at the intersection.

“People who drive the intersection every day, they have a better understanding of how it works,” Eng said. “Our engineers, they may study it for a short time, but not understand all the nuances.”

Changing how drivers get onto the highway would be a win for Wolter, but she wants more. She feels the speed limit should be lowered from 50 mph to 35 mph and a stoplight should go in.

Those changes might be harder to get.

DOT engineers say the current speed limit is appropriate. Lowering it to 35 mph could cause new problems on the highway, Eng said, with some people driving slower and others zipping along at their current, accustomed rate.

DOT officials also believe a roundabout would work best at the intersection, based on traffic studies.

Wolter disagrees.

“The only thing that would have saved my son would have been a light,” she said.

The city of Sultan has a stoplight in its long-term plans, but the project would cost at least $1.4 million. With state funding unavailable, the project is out of reach, city administrator Deborah Knight said.

“We really want a stoplight there, too, we do,” Knight said. “It’s just a matter of timing and priorities and funding.”

Wolter hasn’t given up. She intends to talk to Sultan officials this week, to see if priorities can be adjusted. She also wonders if private funding could pay for the light.

“We just need to find out what we do next,” she said.

Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455; arathbun@heraldnet.com.