On June 23rd, Tacoma City Council approved a $1.36 million contract for a pedestrian safety study on South Tacoma Way.

It's the same corridor where a 28-year-old man was struck and killed eight days earlier.

The study was on the consent agenda, indicating it was in the pipeline before the June 15 fatality, but the crash underscores the corridor's risks.

The contract goes to Toole Design Group LLC to conduct a Vision Zero planning study covering South Tacoma Way from South 60th Street to South Pine Street. Toole Design previously authored Tacoma's 2022 Vision Zero Action Plan and conducted road safety audits on South 12th Street in 2025. Jon Kulju is the city's project manager for the study.

On Monday, June 15, Artanian Shaw, 28, was hit by a vehicle at approximately 5:28 p.m. at 400 South Tacoma Way and died at the scene from multiple blunt-force injuries, according to the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office. The location falls within the study corridor. The driver remained on scene and was not arrested, Tacoma Police spokesperson Shelbie Boyd told The News Tribune.

Tacoma adopted its Vision Zero goal in 2020, committing to eliminate all traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2035. Between 2016 and 2020, 64 people died in 384 fatal and severe-injury crashes on city streets, with 75% of the highest-risk roads in areas with low access to opportunity, according to the city's 2022 Vision Zero Action Plan, which analyzed data from that period.

A $1.75 million grant funded by a November 2024 settlement between warehouse developer Bridge Point Tacoma and the Washington State Department of Ecology will pay for free street and yard trees, a planted median on South Union Avenue, expanded sidewalk planting strips, and a community parklet in South Tacoma through December 2028.

The council authorized an interlocal agreement with Ecology to implement the South Tacoma Tree Canopy Enhancement Program. The initiative includes a "Green Blocks" program delivering free trees to homeowners and major right-of-way improvements, according to the city's press release.

"South Tacoma deserves more trees," Mayor Anders Ibsen said. "You shouldn't have hotter summers just because of your zip code."

Michael Carey, the city's Urban Forest Program Manager, oversees the effort.

The council also awarded a $758,253 contract to Axum General Construction Inc. for intersection and sidewalk improvements at South 38th Street and South Cedar Street. Charla Kinlow, engineering project manager in Public Works, manages the project.

All three resolutions passed on the consent agenda, a package of routine items approved without individual debate. The Vision Zero study and the sidewalk project draw from the Transportation Capital Fund.

No kickoff date for the study or construction start for the sidewalk project has been announced. Residents can submit written comments on council agenda items to [email protected] at least 24 hours before Tuesday evening meetings, or sign up for in-person testimony at Council Chambers.

More information is available at tacoma.gov/southtacomatreecanopy.