SULTAN — A crossover crash killed a Monroe man late Friday night along U.S. 2 at E. Fern Bluff Road, a dangerous intersection that local residents are urging the state to improve.
Antonio Miranda, 32, of Monroe, was driving an Acura Integra westbound on the highway, crossed the centerline and crashed into a sport-utility vehicle and then into a pickup in the highway’s eastbound lane, Washington State Patrol trooper Keith Leary said.
The driver of the pickup, a 60-year-old Snohomish man, suffered neck injuries and was transported to Valley General Hospital in Monroe, Leary said. Three people in the sport-utility vehicle were not injured.
“It could’ve been a lot worse,” he said.
Miranda died at the scene. That marked the 50th death since 1999 in crashes along U.S. 2 between Snohomish and Stevens Pass, state accident data shows. Of all the fatalities, 18 occurred in crossover collisions.
Officials are investigating what caused Miranda’s Acura to cross the centerline.
The crash happened around 10:30 p.m. Friday near the highway’s intersection with E. Fern Bluff Road between Monroe and Sultan.
Backers of U.S. 2 safety improvements consider that intersection particularly dangerous because there have been other fatal accidents there, said Ray Coleman, a member of the U.S. 2 Safety Coalition. The grass-roots group of local residents and officials has discussed closing the intersection and installing a concrete median barrier to prevent crossover crashes.
That is among several safety improvements that the state aims to tackle, using $10 million allocated by state lawmakers.
Meanwhile, the state this year spent about $4 million installing centerline rumble strips along U.S. 2 from east of Monroe to Stevens Pass. The divots ground in the median are designed to alert drivers when they cross the centerline and drift toward oncoming traffic.
“Rumble strips cannot stop all the fatalities,” Coleman said.
The safety coalition wants the highway to be divided and widened to four lanes, said Fred Walser, chairman of the group.
“It’s another fatality that shouldn’t have happened,” Walser said.
Overall safety improvements along U.S. 2 are estimated to cost more than $2 billion, according to the state Department of Transportation.
The highway’s safety problems prompted Gov. Chris Gregoire to declare U.S. 2 as a safety corridor. Local residents have worked with officials to promote safety along the narrow, winding road between Everett and Stevens Pass.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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