The City of Ferndale, WA is asking residents to weigh in on where they feel unsafe while walking, biking, driving, or taking transit as part of a new Comprehensive Safety Action Plan. Developed in partnership with Transpo Group, the plan aims to improve roadway safety across the community and supports Ferndale's Vision Zero goal of eliminating serious injuries and fatal crashes on city streets.
The survey is open now and asks residents to pinpoint specific locations in Ferndale where they have experienced or observed safety concerns. Community input is a core component of the planning process -- residents who use the streets daily see hazards that traffic engineers and consultants may miss in data alone. The city is explicitly calling for this local knowledge to help identify priority areas for future safety improvements.
Ferndale has grown rapidly over the past decade, with new residential developments pushing out from the historic city center along corridors like Main Street, Vista Drive, and Labounty Drive. That growth has brought more vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians onto roads that were not always designed to accommodate the current volume or mix of users. Intersections near schools, parks, and the Ferndale waterfront have been common focal points for resident safety concerns in previous engagement efforts.
The Comprehensive Safety Action Plan uses the Safe System Approach, a framework developed by transportation researchers that emphasizes designing roads so that human errors do not result in death or serious injury. Rather than placing sole responsibility on drivers or pedestrians, the Safe System model focuses on forgiving infrastructure -- speed tables, protected crossings, improved lighting, and separated bike facilities -- that reduces the severity of inevitable mistakes.
Vision Zero is the goal that underlies the plan. Originally developed in Sweden in the 1990s and now adopted by cities across the United States, Vision Zero sets a target of zero traffic fatalities and serious injuries. The City of Ferndale joins a growing number of Whatcom County communities moving toward this standard, following years in which pedestrian fatalities and serious injury crashes have been a persistent challenge on regional roadways, particularly along SR-9 and Guide Meridian corridors.
The data gathered through this survey will be analyzed alongside crash records, traffic counts, and infrastructure inventories to identify high-priority locations for safety investments. The resulting plan will guide where the city allocates future transportation funding, which can include state and federal safety grants.
Residents can complete the survey through the City of Ferndale's website. Participation is open to anyone who lives, works, or travels through Ferndale -- you do not need to be a Ferndale resident to share feedback on streets you use. The city has not announced a closing date for the survey, but early participation is encouraged as input gathered in the initial phase typically carries the most weight in the planning process.
For additional context on transportation planning across the wider region, Whatcom County's Public Works Week coverage highlights the infrastructure challenges facing the broader county transportation network.
