Shoreline council to discuss traffic cameras
Wednesday, February 18, 2026
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| Mid-block crosswalk on N 175th, half a block from Meridian Park Elementary Photo by Oliver J. Moffat |
By Oliver J Moffat
The Shoreline city council will again discuss school zone traffic safety cameras at the Monday, Feb 23 meeting. Unlike neighboring cities, Shoreline still has no traffic cameras.
Every school day in Shoreline, over 3000 drivers violate the speed limit at schools while children are present.
According to a 2025 report from the city, over one thousand speeders per day exceeded the 20 mph limit in front of Meridian Park Elementary while the school zone lights are flashing. And 59% of all drivers speed faster than 30 mph in that Meridian Park school zone.
Last year, the city council directed the city to move forward with school zone speed cameras at Meridian Park elementary.
As required by state law, the city completed an equity impact analysis for the proposed cameras.
Under state law, fines are cut by half for recipients of public assistance, and judges can lower fines based on a recipient’s ability to pay. Any excess revenue must be spent on meaningful traffic safety improvements in poor neighborhoods with the most dangerous roads.
Under the proposed ordinance, photos can only be taken if the car is speeding, only photos of the car and the license plate can be captured, and the images and data can only be used by the city for cutting tickets.
Traffic cameras are now common around the region: Edmonds, Lynnwood, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Bothell, and Seattle all have them. But not Shoreline.
Two years ago, the Shoreline council debated Traffic Cameras after reviewing a Traffic Report which showed record high pedestrian, fatal and serious injury crashes.
At that 2024 meeting, Meridian Park parents and neighbors told the council about the daily horror they face crossing 175th street with children. They also brought a petition signed by 180 parents and neighbors asking the city to install traffic cameras in front of Meridian Park elementary.
Information on attending the city council meeting and providing comments is available on the city’s website.
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26 comments:
The statistics showing just how many drivers are speeding in Shoreline school zones are alarming! Drivers need to pay more attention to where they are driving, and slow down in school zones. These cameras should be deployed at every school in the city as soon as possible to start getting a handle on this problem.
As for the cost of the tickets that will be issued if the cameras are deployed, the state law that limits the cost to $145 needs to be revised. $145 isn't nearly high enough to reflect the seriousness of this problem. $1,000 would be more appropriate, especially for repeat offenders.
This raises a few questions: If over one thousand speeders per day exceeded the 20 mph limit in front of Meridian Park Elementary, then how many accidents due to excess speed have been reported on that section of roadway? The 2022-2023 traffic report shows 1 serious injury collision on that roadway for the period 2018-2023, at the intersection of Ashworth and N 175th St. And what is the accident rate in school zones city wide, if over 3000 drivers violate the speed limit at schools while children are present? And since when did we start adjusting penalties based on an individuals socio-economic status? Finally, N 175th St is a major arterial, and for those of us west of I-5 is the only reliable route to the freeway since the N145th street roundabout construction has choked that route up. Perhaps it’s time to consider a pedestrian overpass?
Data Access: A recent ruling in Skagit County determined that Flock camera data is considered a public record, creating further concerns about privacy. I am NOT a fan.
+1: if the number of accidents is almost non-existent EVEN though some people are driving over 30mph, maybe the current 20mph limits are too low and need to be lifted instead? It looks like this data is confirming that the safe enough speed is higher than 20mph, so what's the point of increasing enforcement of artificially lowered speeds?
These photo tickets have been such a loser in court that they hold no more status than a parking ticket. They don't impact your car insurance and they are easily refuted. Municipalities, however, love them because they are an excellent source of revenue. Snohomish County is piling up the money from people who don't know that tickets from any other than police are easily refuted in court. Want people to slow down in school zones? Cops are very good at that and their evidence even holds up in court.
If you're ticketing vehicles for going only 1-5MPH over the posted speed limit it's a money grab. If you were actually concerned about people's safety you would only be issuing tickets to vehicles who are excessively speeding I.E. 10+ MPH over.
I vote for speed humps. The idea that low income people don't need to pay tickets is ludicrous. Anyone can dispute the ticket by claiming "I wasn't driving". Speed humps work 24/7, don't have racial or ethnic or financial bias, and require minimal maintenance. Being issued a ticket won't change your driving habits, but going over a speed hump will slow you down which I believe is the intended goal. Figure out a different way to raise revenue. Or here's a free idea! Cite drivers who you can see are on their cell phones while driving! I'm looking at your Police Dept in any city.
How about cameras in board rooms where politicians meet with camera companies?
Let's use the $78mm per annum in speed fines to do away with our school levies at the least.
We can also save roughly $200k for Christmas lights along Aurora between 175th and 180th. The city said one of the reasons for those were so they could be enjoyed by people driving along Aurora ffs.
It’s not about safety. It’s about the revenue.
This is an excuse to control and to rob money from people. The example for Meridian elementary school is eye-caught. The Meridian Ave and 175th is very busy at daily base. For meridian elementary school, morning and afternoon already have a lot of staff help on students and parents to pass the cross. Living here more the. 10 years and having kids in this school, never saw and heard any accidents from students or parents.
When I got a speeding ticket in LFP, I argued that going 5 mph over the limit would not have gotten the attention of a police officer nor would he have bothered to cite me. This is really just a money grab, not a safety issue.
I totally agree with the speed humps!
Shoreline is spending $200,000 for Christmas lights for a five block stretch of roadway? If that anount was for lights across the entire city, that would be one thing. But that amount just for that one area? Thats simply too much!
This is a very good point that does need to be addressed. The cameras being proposed for the school zones, along with Flock cameras, can be good tools for improving safety and reducing crime. But individual privacy must absolutely be protected.
Speed humps would be a great alternative to cameras, especially on side streets.
Cameras would be better suited to the areas where we are still dealing with street racing.
The MP community is asking the city for automated enforcement. The desire: to modify driver behavior - to SLOW DOWN in a school zone twice a day for 180 days of the year. Little elementary school kids and their parent/grandparent/caregiver are walking to school - and we must cross N 175th St and/or Meridian Ave N to get to/from school. We witness 180 days a year many, many willful violations of the posted and well signed school zone speed limit. The driver behavior we witness is astonishing and heart breaking to say the least.
We don’t know what else to do or what will be effective. Automated enforcemet is effective at modifying driver behavior - statistics back that up, and the 6 neighboring jurisdictions surrounding Shoreline do also. All our community desires is for drivers to drive slow and follow the rules of the road we all learned in drivers ed.
To regard the: painted crosswalk, the two yellow ‘school crossing signs’, the illuminated crosswalk sign above the crosswalk, flashing ‘20mph school zone’ signs, flashing beacon lights at the crosswalk, the vested crossing guards.
Shoreline Police Dept doesn’t have the staffing or budget to perform traffic enforcement. They have stated this at City Council meetings a number of times. In my personal experience, I have seen a cop maybe 2-3 times in the past 9 years in the MP school zone.
Do people really need or want “data” demonstrate the need for traffic cameras? Does a crash or accident (a little kid or their parent struck by a car) need to happen to demonstrate the need? I really don’t want to be, or my little kid, be a “data point” to justify installing cameras. But I can tell you from personal observation up to 180 days of the year many drivers blow through our school zone daily during school zone times - and it’s frightening.
And yet there is data, and it suggests that accidents are not a problem on this section of roadway.
Is there a reason why y’all don’t cross at the light at Meridian?
Kids and families north of N 175th St use the crosswalks at both Meridian Ave N and Wallingford Ave N. I think families and kids use the crosswalk that is fastest and easiest for them given where they are traveling from. Those are our two crosswalk options.
So you’re prioritizing convenience over safety?
> Do people really need or want “data” demonstrate the need for <...>
Yes! Decisions (that cost all of us money) should not be made on "personal observations" or "vibes", data-driven approach is the only one that makes sense. Data is the only thing that can truly convince people: you will get everyone on board once the high quality data and justification is published alongside such decisions/proposals.
Please clarify... Is that question addressed to the pedestrians following signage and rules, speeding drivers, or drivers that drive through activated crosswalk?
Are you saying that motorists are running the red light at Meridian and 175th? That would be the safest place to cross, although not convenient for some of you.
Please clarify: how many accidents have been caused by drivers that drive through activated crosswalks? And we can all make anecdotal observations - my own experience driving past the school several days a week is that motorists are courteous and respectful of the crossing guards and the activated signs.
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