EVERETT — His friend from Marysville pulled over to take photographs, knowing the new bright yellow markers and raised curb on Old Broadway in Everett would mean something to Frank Blair.
Blair and his wife, Carol, who live in Tacoma, have cared about that stretch of road, near the north end of the Evergreen Cemetery, ever since their daughter Sheena and her friend Tony Ramirez were killed by a drunken driver going the wrong way.
The city recently made some changes at the intersection where Broadway takes a sharp right turn over a short bridge, south of 41st Street. Signs are brighter and more reflective. A raised curb and 14 reflective and flexible delineator posts steer drivers to the right. At that point, the two-lane road becomes a single southbound-only lane.
“This is a very, very welcome change. It makes it plainly obvious to turn right on the bridge,” Frank Blair said. “It does our hearts good to see the city address the situation. It took a long time. Better late than never.”
In 2010, Camille Spink missed the turn, despite the large overhead flashing sign, and headed north in the southbound lanes on Broadway. She smashed into Sheena Blair’s car a few blocks away.
Blair, 24, and Ramirez, 19, died and their two friends were seriously injured.
Spink pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and assault. She was sentenced to seven years in prison and released Aug. 24, 2015, after serving a little more than four and a half years.
The Blairs and the other victims filed a lawsuit against the city in 2013, hoping civil action would prompt changes to the road. The lawsuit called the intersection “unreasonably dangerous,” and the plaintiffs’ lawyers claimed it had been the site of nearly two dozen crashes since 2001.
Lawyers for the city placed blame for the crash squarely on Spink, whose blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit. She also tested positive for active THC, the impairing substance in marijuana.
The city later settled the lawsuits, agreeing to pay out a total of $385,000. In January, Everett also approved a $25,000 settlement with a family for a 2012 crash. Mitchell Casey, 28, was killed when he missed the turn and crashed into the guardrail on the bridge. The city didn’t admit any wrongdoing in the settlements.
The Blairs offered to take less money if Everett made improvements to the intersection. The city turned them down.
Everett traffic engineers said they studied the intersection and concluded there was plenty of warning for reasonable drivers. They said signs would be replaced in time as a part of a citywide sign improvement project meant to meet state regulations passed in 2009.
Signs in north Everett were first on the list. The city has replaced approximately 800 signs. The work on Broadway was done in stages.
The new signs are easier to see at night. Arrows painted on the pavement and flashing lights warn drivers of the impending turn.
And last month, the city installed a raised curb and flexible vertical markers in the centerline as the road approaches the intersection.
“Someone hits those it’s going to go bump, bump, whack, whack,” city traffic engineer Tim Miller said. “That should wake up most anybody.”
The Blairs said the improvements are what they suggested years ago. “It’s a very simple fix,” Frank Blair said.
He and his wife hope people traveling the road will be safer. Their girl would be happy about that.
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