‘Something’s got to be done’: Port workers want change at deadly Tideflats intersection

TACOMA, Wash. — A devastating crash on Sunday morning took six lives and subsequently ignited concerns over the safety of an intersection in the Tacoma Tideflats area.

Port worker Kenneth Wilson said six months prior to the fiery collision of a KIA and BMU SUV, he had a near-death experience of his own. Wilson recalled it was 6:30 a.m., he was on his way to work at the Port of Tacoma when suddenly he was t-boned by another driver. Wilson told us it’s a miracle he walked away with just a broken sternum and torn shoulder muscles.

“I’ve been traveling through that intersection for many years and you really got to watch out,” said Wilson. “It almost killed me. I could have been one of those people.”

Longshoremen and crane operators who’ve spent decades working at the port expressed similar concerns. They believe excessive speeds on State Route 509 and two sudden stoplights don’t mix.

“It is 60 miles an hour,” said Liane Uchiyama. “It’s a freeway, who puts a light in the middle of a freeway?”

The Washington Department of Transportation reports the City of Tacoma operates the lights and the cabinet. Right now there are two stoplights a couple dozen yards apart.

WSDOT spokesperson, Kris Olsen reports the department is one year away from shifting the southbound lanes to make way for a single intersection controlled by a single set of lights. According to Olsen, the department also plans to add flashing warning signs several hundred feet before the intersection. With the completion of that improvement at least a year away, Olsen suspects the department and the City of Tacoma will see if anything can be done in the meantime.

“Every other week it seems like there’s an accident there,” said Wilson. “Something’s got to be done. This is not right.”

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