highway design — Blog — Keith Kessler

Aurora Avenue North began in the 1880s as a wagon road, ultimately becoming a direct route to and from Everett.

Highways and RoadsKeith KesslerMarch 31, 2022highway design

Two Highways Intersect with No Traffic Signal – The Fix

1998 -- Interstate 90 meets State Route 18 at an unsignalized intersection, leaving cars turning left from SR 18 onto I-90 without a green arrow or any other traffic control device. Drivers turning left risk a collision with a through vehicle if a gap in oncoming traffic proves to be inadequate for slipping through.

Highways and RoadsAlysha Fung KoehlerMay 18, 2020highway design

Press Release: State admits fault for dangerous road and pays $28 Million personal injury settlement

Rarely, if ever, does the State admit that it was negligent in a dangerous highway design lawsuit. But in the case of then 15-year-old Skylar Seward who now suffers from quadriplegia, the State has done exactly that.

Initial Design Errors

Sometimes roads are just wrong to begin with.

Highways and RoadsKeith KesslerApril 25, 2011highway design

The Duty to Provide Safe Roads

The law is clear in Washington State: Our street and highway departments have a “duty to provide reasonably safe roads and this duty includes the duty to safeguard against an inherently dangerous or misleading condition.”

Practice TipsKeith KesslerApril 13, 2011highway design, safe roads, practice tips, car crashes

Why care about highway design?

My partners at SKWC and I care a lot about highway safety. Our biggest reason for caring is that we’ve seen a lot of horrible things happen to innocent people simply because a road or highway was designed in an ill-conceived manner.

Highways and RoadsKeith KesslerApril 7, 2011highway design, publications