Major changes planned for site of deadly accident

SEATTLE -- Major changes are coming to a busy Seattle street in the wake of a devastating crash.

Karina Schulte and her newborn son were seriously hurt on NE 75th Street in Wedgwood in March. They were run over while crossing the street by a repeat drunk driver. Her husband's parents, who were crossing the street with her, were also killed.

Five months after the accident, Karina is struggling to learn how to eat, walk and talk. Her son, who was 10 days old at the time of the accident and was also seriously injured, has since improved.

Since 2009, there have been 114 crashes along the mile-long stretch of road. Now, the city is taking action to make the corridor safer.

After five public meetings, the Seattle Department of Transportation is making changes. One of the changes involves creating one general purpose travel lane in each direction. Another change will be a new two-way center left-turn lane. There will also be a clearly marked crosswalk at 28th Avenue NE and bicycle lanes will be added in each direction.

There will no longer be on street parking on NE 75th Street except at Eckstein Middle School and the city is also adding photo enforcement cameras in the school zone.

Work is set to start on Monday, Aug. 26 and wrap by the start of the school year on Wednesday, Sept. 4.

The Schulte family has filed a lawsuit against the city of Seattle for $45 million dollars in damages. The lawsuit alleges the city didn’t do enough to keep Mullan off the road, in particular making sure he had installed a court-ordered ignition interlock device in his pickup truck.