Earlier this summer, a loving, playful and innocent little girl was struck and killed by an innocent driver.  There would seem to be nothing more tragic than the loss of a young toddler. However, this heart-wrenching tragedy could have been prevented, and should have.

With the extreme expenditure Redmond Town Center has invested in renovating a portion of NE 74th St into a pedestrian promenade, they failed to extend the pedestrian-only walkway past the center’s Sensory Garden playground, directly across the street from where the new pedestrian-only area ends. 

It was at this playground that a playful little toddler was enjoying an afternoon of fun at RTC while accompanied by an adult. She had been playing at the Sensory Garden playground and watched over by her caregiver, when she unpredictably darted out through a clear path (break in sufficient landscaping) to the roadway.  The approaching car, slowing for the stop sign at the intersection, did not see her in any time to react. The young child was killed instantly.

The Sensory Garden playground is located at the corner of NE 74th St and 164th Ave NE; an attractive raised playground with a metal fenced perimeter. The playground has an entrance / exit opening spanning approximately 8 ft. with 3 steps leading down and facing directly toward the busy roadway.

It is expected that children will be playing freely at any playground, under watchful eye of a nearby caretaker.  RTC’s playground has several small tables and chairs for enjoying coffee and/or ice cream from the adjacent shops. Being in such close proximity to traffic, it is inconceivable that there are NO other safety precautions for children (or any pedestrian) preventing direct access to the busy roadways.

Traffic near and around the intersection of 164th Ave NE and NE 74th St has dramatically increased due to the extension of 164th Ave NE to Cleveland St.  This recent connection to the existing main thoroughfare, creates a steady stream of vehicular traffic through the heart of Downtown Redmond to flow directly through RTC while passing alongside the playground and a row of children’s shops (including Paint Away!, Gymboree, Cold Stone Creamery, and Brightmont Academy opening soon).

Meanwhile, NE 74th St is the first entrance to Redmond Town Center from an increasingly populated Bear Creek Pkwy, coming from Leary Way (the same road which becomes the entrance / exit ramps for SR 520 highway). NE 74th St takes drivers in front of the LWSD headquarters, Overlake Medical Clinics, and on to the Marriott Hotel, directly across from the Sensory Garden playground.

Yet, with this drastic change as well as increased populated business destinations, it appears RTC management did not invest in any safety precautions for the playground and surrounding area.

Apparently, quick access, appearance, and revenue are much higher priorities to those responsible for the incomprehensible design of RTC, especially in regards to child safety. If any research or consideration for safety had been done, two factors would have been discovered and the layout designed accordingly.

---Studies done by Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center found that a pedestrian struck by a car traveling at 40 mph, would be killed 80% of the time. That’s 8 out of 10 individuals struck at 40 mph would die, with the very young and elderly at greatest risk.

---Research has also shown that a 2 year old of average height standing in the roadway is not visible to drivers nearly 20 feet away.

The Sensory Garden playground has been placed dangerously close to two roadways at a major intersection. In addition, immediately adjacent storefronts block sufficient line of site with roadway traffic.  The children’s play structure is only visible fractions of a second before vehicles travel directly alongside the play area.

Playgrounds, and other such children play areas, are presumably created with expectations of providing children space to play freely and assurance of safety precautions in place. This was not the case with the developers and current management of Redmond Town Center.

Some may argue that ‘preventing’ accidents involving toddlers / children is simply impossible due to their unpredictable, playful nature. Tom Fucoloro, writer for Seattle Bike Blog, had an eye-opening, jaw-dropping response to this.

“The tragedy came just days after a four year old was killed in an Issaquah crosswalk. The deaths of toddlers are not acceptable costs for our current transportation system. Deaths and serious injuries in traffic are preventable.”

“We CAN prevent traffic deaths and injuries. In the Netherlands, a nation of 16.8 million people (more than double the population of Washington State), very few children die in traffic these days”.
(Referencing ‘The Netherlands’ Institute for Road Safety Research SWOV Fact Sheet’, April 2015)

In an article about an eerily similar tragic and senseless fatality of a child in Albany, NY on Feb 13, 2015, Charles Marohn, writer of ‘Strong Towns’ report ‘A Statistically Inevitable Outcome’, poignantly states:

"Let's be clear: this isn't an accident. An accident is defined as, ‘an event that happens by chance without an apparent cause'.
While there is certainly an element of chance here, just as with Russian roulette, there is obviously an underlying, preventable cause. This intersection is really dangerous for people outside of a vehicle. Serious injury is statistically inevitable. The design of this space induces high vehicle speeds in a complex environment not conducive to high speeds. There is only superficial protection for pedestrians and bikers."

The undeniable reality is that in the design and further management of Redmond Town Center, complete disregard was shown for child safety, particularly near Sensory Garden playground and surrounding areas.

In the 12 hours after the tragic scene was cleared by police, Courtney Klein of JSH Properties, management of Redmond Town Center went to work doing everything possible to present the appearance that ‘nothing horrible had happened’ on their property, there at the intersection directly across from The Marriott hotel, with its constant influx of affluent business travelers / shoppers. 

The very next morning, Redmond Town Center reopened the playground and roadway where this innocent toddler was senselessly killed.  With despicable lack of respect for the little girl who had died just hours earlier and her devastated grieving family, management ‘swept away’ all signs and acknowledgement of the incomprehensible tragedy that occurred. Along with the tremendous disrespect to those involved in this nightmare, there were absolutely NO CHANGES made.  Not even temporary safety measures were taken before the roadways were reopened to traffic.

Are the decision-makers of Redmond Town Center going to continue to put their young, innocent patrons at risk for a recurrence of this blatantly preventable fatality?  Are you, a resident, employee, or employer of this Eastside community going to sit back and wait along with them?

OR, are you going to stand up and be heard, to be the 'VOICE' of the little toddler girl killed, and DEMAND Redmond Town Center take immediate action to do what has been proven possible by another country, and remove all traffic from this critical ‘danger zone’?

“In 2013, only four children in the Netherlands died in traffic while walking.
In just one week, King County reached half that many.”
- Tom Fucoloro

It is thoroughly clear what the response needs to be.  Our community’s children are relying on US to ensure an immediate response of temporary safety measures while plans begin NOW to create a fun, relaxing, shopper- / child-friendly, safe environment which should have originally been designed as such years ago. Why WAS the design of the recent renovation for a portion of NE 74th St, abruptly ended at this major intersection?

A little 2 year old has lost her life, and her family will forever mourn a horrific loss that could have easily been prevented!


PLEASE JOIN ME in signing this petition and spreading it to every one you know, so that we, our community, can act as the ‘voice’ of this little girl, whose voice is no longer heard laughing and playing.