As we Lake Stevens residents are painfully aware, for the last 18 months the Washington DOT has provided a thrill ride that allows you to experience danger and heart-pounding excitement right in your own car! It’s called the Highway 9 and 204 Roundabout.
Or, to put it more accurately, based on the statistics, the Highway 9 and 204 Wreckabout.
Just How Did We Get Into This Mess?
Once upon a time, Lake Stevens, in partnership with Washington DOT (WSDOT), decided something needed to be done about the intersection where highway 9 meets highway 204 at Frontier Village.
This too was a poorly designed intersection, also courtesy of the WSDOT, no doubt reviewed and signed off on by clueless Lake Stevens politicians. Here’s what that one looked like:
(insert image)
So, after many years of analysis and planning, the decision was made that a roundabout was the best solution. Somehow, they managed to get $70 million in funding for the project and we were off to the races.
So far, so good, right? We’ve all seen and used roundabouts because they are now common.
In fact, a nice, well-designed roundabout would likely be an improvement. Such as the one below in Arlington.
(insert image)
Nice and clean, right? And it appears traffic can flow smoothly in all directions. Just what a roundabout is supposed to do.
This isn’t what we got.
A Maze of Mayhem
Picture this: four interconnected roundabouts – two big and two small – interspersed among 14 other odd shaped objects that have to be navigated around. It’s as if a giant toddler spilled their Cheerios on the road map, and the Department of Transportation said, “Yeah, let’s build that!” and Lake Stevens agreeing with “Looks Good to Us!”
The almost comical complexity of the design, coupled with the need for quick decision-making, has led to numerous near-misses and collisions. Many drivers find themselves unexpectedly in the wrong lane or struggle to navigate the multiple exit points, leading to dangerous last-minute Indy 500 maneuvers.
And in case you haven’t seen it in via aerial photograph in its full glory, here it is! I added red dots to indicate the various objects that require navigation. There are 17 of them.
(insert image)
It’s hard to believe something could be designed worse than the old intersection, but with $70 million to blow, they somehow managed it.
The owner of one commercial trucking company eloquently described it (insert link) as looking “like a figure-eight demolition derby.” Check out the statistics below that support this description.
This same owner described driving a truck through these roundabouts as a “puckering” experience. Nothing like a little sphincter-tightening action to keep you alert on your morning commute!
One employee of the Union coffee bar near the wreckabouts reported seeing accidents there daily, sometimes more than one a day. I guess there’s nothing like a little caberet show with your coffee. This employee said she takes back roads and a longer route every day to work to avoid the roundabout collisions she frequently sees.
One fed-up Lake Stevens citizen posted a YouTube video (insert link) venting his frustration. He called it “The Most Dangerous Roundabout in America”.
He might not be wrong.
Let’s Make Things Even More Confusing
As if regular roundabouts weren’t confusing enough, Lake Stevens decided to spice things up with a “peanut-shaped” roundabout on Vernon Road, several triangular shaped ones, and several that simply look like elongated blobs.
State officials said last year that the peanut was designed that way to avoid needing a new right-of-way agreement from adjacent properties.
In other words, instead of a right-of-way, we got a right-of-wreck.
Equally bad, there is a smaller traffic circle that sits just east of Highway 9. It links North Davies Road, Frontage Road, and Vernon Road, essentially bringing together six different streams of traffic. Ironically, this mess is right next to a driving school.
You can’t make stuff like this up.
Yes, folks, nothing says “safe driving” like navigating multiple building block shaped traffic patterns while dodging cars coming at you from several directions.
If you don’t live in Lake Stevens and this is your first time going through the wreckabouts, you will probably think it was designed by blind morons.
You might not be wrong.
Yet Another Thing Elderly Drivers Will Want to Avoid
A longtime Lake Stevens resident expressed concern (insert link) about her mom using the roundabouts.
As well she should! While DOT may not have a problem with confronting elderly drivers with something that requires a sharp eye and lightening fast reflexes, the grandkids sure do.
What we have here is a new extreme sport for the elderly. Actually, almost every elderly person I’ve spoken with takes alternate routes to avoid these wreckabouts.
The old saying that “With Age Comes Wisdom” has never been truer.
Take a look for yourself. Go for a spin around the wreckabouts and see how many senior citizen drivers you’ll see. It won’t be many and the ones you do see will be leaned over the steering wheel with a panicked look on their face.
Crash Course in Chaos – Let the Statistics Speak for Themselves
Since opening in July of 2023, this $69.5 million concrete corn maze has become the hottest spot for unplanned car meetups.
In the first two months, confused and terrified drivers had 68 crashes – the Fast and Furious movie franchise didn’t have this many! Compare this to 2022, the year before it opened. The same intersection saw only 43 crashes in an entire year.
Whoever designed this nightmare obviously didn’t know that car crashes are like golf scores: you want the lowest number possible.
It gets worse.
In the full year of 2023, the year the roundabouts opened, there were 162 crashes (insert link to video), most of which were after the roundabouts opened.
It didn’t get better in 2024.
Despite the claim by transportation officials that things get better over time with new roundabouts, as people get used to them, that’s not what happened here.
In the first four months of 2024 (the latest figures available), there were 92 crashes. This puts it on course to end the year with 276 crashes.
This is 641% more crashes than 2022!
A figure 8 racetrack doesn’t have statistics this bad.
Are We Really Any Worse Than Anywhere Else?
But wait – are these stats worse than other states?
Lake Stevens has a population of 35,000.
Ann Arbor Michigan has a population of 123,000. In the full year of 2023, a roundabout on one of the main thoroughfares had 126 crashes.
A main roundabout in Sterling Heights Michigan, with a population of 136,000, had 135 crashes in 2023.
So, let’s see. Both of these cities have a population more than three times larger than Lake Stevens, yet major roundabouts had less than one half the number of projected 2024 Lake Stevens crashes.
They have roundabouts. We have wreckabouts.
What Does DOT Say About All This?
This is where things get really humorous. I’m guessing it was unintentional, but it’s still hilarious.
I’m talking about the video produced by DOT, in an attempt to show how simple and effective this body shop’s dream would be.
From the video, here’s their picture of the “improved traffic flow” for the north roundabout:
(insert picture)
This is their idea of simplicity and a more efficient solution. To quote the Everett Herald article (insert link), the video “explains where to go as red and orange arrows unfurl along the route like a ‘Snake’ arcade game”.
Can you imagine trying to make sense of this in the six or seven seconds you have after having negotiated the equally dangerous south roundabout?
Even funnier is their picture to support what they say is one of the greatest benefits: increasing pedestrian and bike access. Take a look at their illustration of bike and pedestrian paths:
(insert image)
Clear and simple, right?
If you thought driving through the wreckabouts was complicated, just wait until you try to figure out how to navigate them as a pedestrian or on a bike. The crosswalks that require traffic to stop in the middle of trying to avoid the other cars can only be described as death-traps.
I predict that the first fatality at this intersection will be from a pedestrian or a bike, not a car.
Below is the link to the video – it’s only about 90 seconds long and will keep you laughing the entire time.
According to WSDOT, “the roundabouts were selected by a Stakeholder Advisory Group consisting of elected officials, commercial property owners, freight groups, business owners, county and transit staff, and bicycle advocacy groups.”
Bicycle advocacy groups??
Do you see what was missing from the Stakeholder Advisory Group? ACTUAL CITIZEN DRIVERS!! You know, the ones who have to actually live with the result.
A 16 year old who just got a drivers license would have taken one look at this plan and laughed hilariously.
Turns out the joke was on us.
What Does Lake Stevens Say?
Not much. In fact, two sentences, from city administrator Gene Brazel (also quoted from the Everett Herald article (insert link):
“Those are a WSDOT project so it’s probably best if you speak with them. The city of Lake Stevens participated in the meetings as a stakeholder but it’s their project.”
None of the seven Lake Stevens City Council members responded to a request for comment from the Herald. Lake Stevens Mayor Brett Gailey did not directly respond, either.
The Herald article went on to say that some residents made their complaints known on a Facebook post from the official Lake Stevens account, which announced that the DOT would be at the farmers market to explain things. It was shared hundreds of times before the city shut down comments, deleting dash cam footage and stopping all debate.
From that point in time, it seems that the city ghosted any attempt for further comments. Based on the crash statistics, I guess you can’t blame them.
Now, I’m going to share something that I’ll say right up front is a rumor only and I have no idea if it’s true. I have a friend (well, really a casual acquaintance) who claims to know someone on the City Council.
They said this person told them that the Lake Stevens city engineer (not sure if that’s the correct title) looked at the first draft of the wreckabouts and simply signed off. This person has since left the city.
I don’t blame them. If that were me, I would have left the state.
Again, take this as heresay only. But it would certainly explain the lack of response from Lake Stevens, wouldn’t it?
Is There a Silver Lining to This Cloud of Disaster?
Actually there is…sort of. Statistics from the Federal Highway Administration show that roundabouts decrease injury collisions by 75% and fatal collisions by 90%.
Do these stats hold for the Lake Stevens mess? We don’t really know, as the Lake Stevens numbers were obtained from the police department and they didn’t include injuries, just collisions.
We do know that this intersection did have one fatal collisions in the five years before and there hasn’t been one since. But it’s only been 18 months.
Give it time.
In Conclusion
So, there you have it, folks! Lake Stevens new Wreckabouts, where every day is like playing Russian Roulette with your car insurance premiums.
Remember, it’s not about the destination, it’s about how many times you circle it before your find your exit.
Is there any hope that this Mario Kart course will be corrected?
All it would take would be to remove the north large roundabout and put in simple turnoffs for Vernon Road and N. Davies Rd. We’d still have the south roundabout – as poorly designed as it is – which is the original intersection targeted for improvement.
And that’s it! That’s all it would take to change the two wreckabouts to one roundabout and gain acceptance by the community.
But when was the last time you ever saw politicians admit to making a mistake if they had to spend money correcting it?
Exactly.
And that’s why Lake Stevens drivers will continue to be faced with two choices: avoid the wreckabouts entirely, or throw caution to the wind and embrace the thrills and excitement of what is now one of the most dangerous stretches of road anywhere.
Mario Andretti would be so proud.