Island County will host two open houses next week to gather input on street safety.

At 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 7 at Langley City Hall and 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at Coupeville Recreational Hall, the Island Regional Transportation Planning Organization will hear input on developing a comprehensive safety action plan aiming to improve safety on roadways for all users and abilities.

The organization will analyze data to pinpoint roadway issues and propose potential safety projects to reduce fatal and serious injury crashes. The plan will find areas to focus on for roadway projects.

Public input will also help the county apply for the Department of Transportation’s Safe Streets and Roads for All grant.

Areas across the island show traffic problems, wrote Malcolm Roberts, transportation planner, in an email. The comprehensive safety action plan will show which areas are of greatest concern to different municipalities and agencies across the island and help them specifically address the risk.

The organization is still collecting data, Roberts said, so he is unaware of the utmost causes of danger on Whidbey’s roadways. That said, the data so far matches both the state and the nation’s uptick in deadly and serious collisions.

He’s hoping to hear from all who use the roadway, be it drivers, cyclists or pedestrians. The goal is to plan for and prevent as opposed to reacting to problems. This will help identify what the island needs, be it more roundabouts or other traffic calming measures.

Those who can’t make it can give their input via a survey at dks-engage.com/IRTPO. For more information, contact Roberts at malcolm.roberts@islandcountywa.gov or Veronica Sullivan at veronica.sullivan@dksassociates.com.