RENTON, Wash. — A community safety meeting was held Tuesday to discuss a Renton road with a history of tragic crashes. This comes nearly two weeks after a crash that killed a mother and three children.
At the site, there is a growing memorial and the community has a growing number of concerns.
"There's only so much crying you can do; we really need to get change," said Kimberlee Hodgen, who lives two doors down from the location where four people, including three children, were killed last month.
She was one of the first people on the scene.
"For me, it was like somebody reaching down my throat and grabbing my intestines, pulling them out, saying 'this is how you're going to feel from here on out,'” said Hodgen.
"While we were here talking, I believe the black Lexus ran the red light and hit the blue vehicle,” said Frode Langelo. “This is at the same location where we had the big accident a couple weeks ago. And this happens all the time."
Langelo has lived near the intersection of 140th Avenue and 192nd Street for 16 years. The accident KING and Langelo witnessed on Tuesday was the latest in a long list of crashes he's seen over the years.
“Scary and you can see how dangerous the intersection is,” said Langelo. “Hearts racing when we hear the accidents happen, it's like, oh no, not again."
According to state records, there have been at least 10 accidents at this intersection since 2021.
Langelo hopes to put an end to that. He helped organize a community traffic safety meeting Tuesday night at Northwest Life Church, located less than a mile away from the problem intersection. During the meeting, community members were able to voice their concerns to King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn and a representative from the King County Sheriff’s Office.
"We need traffic calming measures along this stretch. If it's a center median, roundabout, traffic lights, lower speed limits, but we also need more sheriff deputies present to do traffic enforcement," said Langelo.
Regarding the accident KING witnessed Tuesday, both drivers were okay. Meanwhile, after the meeting, organizers hope the county will conduct a traffic study and come up with solutions as soon as possible.