The Alert Northshore Emergency Notification System is a fast communication service allowing the City of Kenmore/NEMCo to notify citizens of an emergency situation. It enables the City to provide mass notification quickly and easily. The service is free to all residents and businesses located within city boundaries.

This system will allow the City of Kenmore/NEMCo to contact participants via a phone call, text, and/or email to provide information about a critical situation, what action needs to be taken, and notification that the situation has been resolved.

The City of Kenmore, City of Lake Forest Park, Northshore Utility District, and the Northshore Fire District have teamed up and formed the Northshore Emergency Management Coalition (NEMCo).

NEMCo’s focus is to engage the “whole community” to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from all types of emergencies and disasters through education, and volunteer coordination. NEMCo provides a number of emergency preparedness training opportunities throughout the year for those interested in volunteering, or for those who just want to be better prepared at home.

In case of an emergency, City staff will access Alert Northshore via a secure portal on the web. A "contact area" will be marked identifying street addresses. Contact information will be matched up electronically to these addresses through the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS). A written message and/or pre-recorded message.

A written and/or pre-recorded message will be sent out to phones and email addresses with information about the incident and possibly instructions for action to be taken.

1. Read or Listen the message. Do not ignore it.
2. Alert other people. Alert classmates, teachers, co-workers, friends, family and neighbors in the region who may be affected by the alert. Consider your neighbors who may not have access to the alert information or may need assistance if there are any actions that need to be taken.
3. Follow any action advised by the message. The instructions will be direct and specific to the particular situation. Be sure to follow them carefully. Do not call 911 unless you are in an emergency situation. Seek more details from local media or authorities.

Your area of the community may not be affected. In this case, you won’t receive a message even if it’s only a block away.

Alert Northshore will be used for significant incidents and events where the timely notification of an affected population or geographic area is essential.

The following information is required to add a telephone number into the Alert Northshore database: your first and last name; physical address (no P.O. boxes); city; state; zip code; and primary phone number. A primary phone number may be a cell phone, home phone, or work phone.

• Online - You may register for Alert Northshore by filling out the form below. Residents without Internet access may visit any of the public libraries to use a computer to register or call Bryan Hampson, City of Kenmore, 425-398-8900 or the NEMCo at 425-354-1744. Public Libraries near Kenmore:

  • Kenmore Public Library, 6531 NE 181st Street, Kenmore
  • Lake Forest Park Public Library, 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park
  • Bothell Public Library, 18215 98th Ave NE, Bothell
  • Brier Library, 23303 Brier Road, Brier



• In person - You may register for Alert Northshore by visiting Kenmore City Hall, 18120 68th Avenue NE and filling out a form.

• Over the phone - You may register for Alert Northshore by calling Kenmore City Hall, 425 398 8900 and requesting Bryan Hampson.

To register, we require that you provide the following information: Full name, full residential address, and a phone number (you must indicate whether it is a cell phone, work, or home phone number).

This system will be used for emergency purposes or notification of information considered to be vitally important.

Examples of times when the Alert Northshore system could be utilized: drinking water contamination, utility outage, evacuation notice, missing person, fires or floods, bomb threat, hostage situation, chemical spill or gas leak, and other emergency incidents where rapid and accurate notification is essential for life safety.

RASKC animal control field officers respond to the following requests:

• leash law enforcement
• vicious animal complaints
• cruelty investigations
• animal bites
• injured animal rescues
• "dead-on-arrival" livestock/cats/dogs
• police department calls for assistance
• aggressive or sick animal pick-up

King County Animal Control Contact

Phone:  (206) 296-PETS (7387)
Email:  

If you are experiencing a life-threatening animal-related emergency, call 9-1-1.

Lower priority animal services:

Lower priority calls will be responded to by call center staff over the telephone, referral to other resources, or by dispatch of an animal control field officer as necessary or available.These calls include, but are not limited to:

•  non-emergent high priority events
• patrol requests
• trespass
• stray dog/cat
• barking dog
• leash law violation
• trap requests
• confined animal notification.

Contact PAWS if you have a lost dog or cat.

PAWS
15305 44th Ave W
Lynnwood, WA 98087
(425) 787-2500

For more information about the PAWS sheltering program, hours of operation, or to adopt a pet, please see the PAWS Shelter website.

Drivers are given a total of at least 90 days to adjust at each new traffic camera site:

1. At least 30 days before a camera is activated at a new site, the City installs speed feedback signs, “Photo Enforcement Ahead” signs, and regulatory plaques.
2. Once the camera is activated, there is a 60-day warning period in which drivers do not receive fines.
3. After the 60-day warning period, ticketed enforcement begins.

If a speed limit is reduced in an area for safety reasons, photo enforcement is not introduced to that area within six months of the speed limit reduction to allow drivers time to adjust.

Locations for photo enforcement are based on analysis done by the City's engineering department; this analysis is presented to City Council, which then makes the final determination. The methodology the engineering department uses for recommending photo enforcement is dependent on whether red-light enforcement or speed enforcement is being considered: 

• For automated red-light enforcement, the engineering department will recommend that red-light cameras be installed only as an escalation of conventional red-light enforcement which has been shown to be effective but unfeasible. If an intersection has a high frequency of crashes which are related to red-light violations, or if the frequency and nature of red-light violations is creating a high crash risk for vulnerable road users (i.e. bicyclists and pedestrians), then the engineering department will recommend to the police department that the intersection receive special red-light enforcement. If in-person enforcement is effective at addressing the issue but it is not possible to provide in-person enforcement with sufficient frequency to permanently resolve the issue, then the engineering department will recommend that automated red-light enforcement be implemented in order to provide a permanent enforcement presence. 

• For school zone automated speed enforcement, the engineering department continuously monitors Kenmore streets for high crash frequency or high-risk speeding behavior. Unfortunately crashes occur every year in our school zones on busier streets (classified as "arterial" or "collector" streets by traffic engineers) in spite of frequent speed enforcement by Kenmore Police. Although we are fortunate that in recent years these crashes have not involved pedestrians and many are low in severity, they nonetheless demonstrate the risk present to all road users and vulnerable road users especially. For this reason, the engineering department conducts school-zone speeding analysis in all school zones on arterial and collector streets, and also on school zones which have experienced at least one crash in the past five years, even if they are not located on arterial or collector streets. This analysis takes into account factors such as the actual travel speed in the school zone, the volume of traffic, the frequency and degree of school-zone speed-limit violations, and the frequency of crashes within the school zone. This is used to estimate how many crashes would be prevented by automated speed enforcement. If it is estimated that automated speed enforcement would reduce the number of school-zone crashes by at least one crash per year, or reduce the risk of fatal crashes by 50% or more, then the engineering department will recommend that automated speed enforcement be implemented for that school zone.

• The four transportable traffic safety cameras coming in January 2026 will move between 16 council-approved sites. Camera locations are limited to these sites only, and any changes to the approved list would require Council action.  Site selection followed data-driven methodologies which prioritize the potential for speed reduction and reduced crash risk, and took into consideration flexibility and geographic coverage. The sites cover each of Kenmore’s arterial corridors and are in areas where local travel speeds are highest or at where enforcement has the greatest potential to influence speed choice, and where effective camera placement is feasible. The four new transportable cameras will rotate between the 16 sites every 2 to 4 months based on speed data to dynamically respond to speed-related crash risk throughout Kenmore.  Camera locations and schedules will be available on this webpage.

No. Warning signs stay in place year-round at all approved sites. This creates consistent driver expectations and reduces surprise fines. Cameras rotate between sites, but the signage remains so drivers know enforcement may be present at any time. Removing and reinstalling signs would cost more and reduce the safety benefits. Keeping the signs up ensures consistent safe driving behavior, even when cameras aren’t active.

Photo enforcement for the regulatory speed limit is continuously active – the 30 mph speed limit is enforced all day, every day of the year. The enforcement hours for the 20 mph school zone speed limit are the same as the school zone flasher hours. In Kenmore, all school zones (with or without photo enforcement) have the following schedule for school zone active hours:

               AM: Starts 75 minutes before the first bell, ends 15 minutes after the first bell

               PM: Starts 15 minutes before the end of classes, ends 75 minutes after classes are out

We do this for a few reasons:

• One hour before school and one hour after school covers almost all regularly scheduled school activities that happen on school days.

• An additional fifteen minutes on either end of those one-hour periods covers the time spent actually walking to or from school and is also there for parents who walk with their kids.

The City of Kenmore determined school zone hours through discussions with Northshore School District and Kenmore schools. The schedule was set to address the following needs:

• All schools have activities on campus during the hour before and after school (e.g. free breakfast, sports programs)

   

• 15 minutes is added to the outside of the hour to cover time spent commuting

   

• 15 minutes is added inside the school day to cover late arrivals and parents walking to and from school after drop off or before pickup

The school zone schedule is not set to cover only the period of time when the highest number of students are walking to and from school, but instead the schedule is set to carve out time when parents know that their kids are supported by a safer traffic environment even when schedules demand flexibility.

The short answer is no: if you are already in the intersection when the light turns red that is not a red light violation and it will not trigger the camera.

A red light violation is when the driver faced with a red light fails to stop before entering the intersection, and so the red light camera only detects violations when drivers enter the intersection after the light has already changed. If you are partially or entirely within the intersection (or even stuck in the intersection because traffic is backed up) when the light turns red you will be able to continue through and exit the intersection without risk of triggering the camera. Additionally, all violations detected by the camera will be reviewed by Kenmore police officers personally – if there is an occasion when the camera triggered and recorded what it expected to be a violation, but the police officer determines that no violation occurred, then there will be no ticket issued to that driver. All tickets issued are ultimately on the judgement of Kenmore police officers, the same officers who would be issuing those tickets in person.

Although speeding and red light violations are typically moving violations, state law does not classify them as moving violations when they are detected by photo enforcement, and so they will not appear on your driving record, and will not be reported to insurance companies.

The camera flash is the result of the system recording a license place photo when a possible violation is detected, but not every possible violation is determined to be an actual violation.

We make every effort to have the school zone flashers and the photo enforcement system consistent with each other, but occasionally changes to the school schedule (such as changes related to snow days or special events) may result in the systems being out of sync. When this happens, there may be a period of time where the photo enforcement system is detecting speeds above 20 mph even though the school zone flashers are not on - when this is the case, no fines will be issued for speeds which exceed the school zone speed limit but not the regulatory speed limit.

All events detected as possible violations are reviewed by police, and if for any reason the system detects a possible violation but the police determine that no violation occurred, no fine will be issued.

If you are no longer able to retrieve mail from the address indicated on your vehicle registration, please reach out to the customer service line for our photo enforcement contractor: 1-866-790-4111 The customer service agent will be able to determine if a notice of infraction (NOI) was issued for your vehicle, and help route the NOI to the correct mailing address. Please note that possible violations detected by our traffic safety cameras may take a few days to complete review by our Kenmore Police, and this information may not be immediately available to customer service agents.

Photo enforcement for the regulatory speed limit is continuously active – the 30 mph speed limit is enforced all day, every day of the year.

The KAPE system detects school zone speeding when the school zone flashers are on, but when the school zone is not active, the KAPE system still detects violations of the 30 mph speed limit.

We are all equal in the eyes of the traffic camera. There is a great deal of conversation going on around traffic stops right now, and many agree that fewer traffic stops would be better. Photo enforcement allows for the enforcement benefit to continue while removing the need for a traffic stop in order to issue the notice of infraction.

Violations detected by photo enforcement are still reviewed by a police officer before a notice of infraction is issued, but the review is done without any identifying information, which is another requirement of the RCW.

This allows for consistent, rules-based enforcement, which can remove doubt about fair treatment for drivers who receive a notice of infraction.

Kenmore does not use “Flock Safety” cameras, and Kenmore’s traffic safety cameras differ from Flock cameras in many important ways.

Kenmore's traffic safety cameras will only take a photograph and retain video of a vehicle if the system detects a speeding or red-light violation. The video, photograph, and other relevant information is then sent electronically to the Kenmore police to review and determine whether a traffic violation has occurred. When your vehicle is photographed, only the view that includes the rear license plate is captured. Video is used for the sole purpose of helping police determine if a traffic violation occurred, such as showing a left turn with the red-arrow clearly visible or speeding while school-zone flashers are visibly active.  By law, it’s prohibited for traffic safety cameras to capture photographs that include the faces of vehicle drivers or passengers. Furthermore, law prohibits the use of the information captured by traffic safety cameras for purposes outside of determining a traffic violation.  (See RCW 46.63.220.) 

"Flock Safety" cameras are a type of automated license plate reader (ALPR) system.  ALPRs, which are not in use in the City of Kenmore, photograph passing vehicles to record their license plate number, make, model, color, and other visual characteristics which are then stored in a searchable database. Unlike Kenmore's traffic safety cameras, ALPRs are used for any passing vehicle (not just when a violation is detected) and are intended exclusively for surveillance and criminal investigations.

If you no longer have the notice of infraction, please reach out to the customer service line for our photo enforcement contractor:                      1-866-790-4111

If you receive a warning in the mail, there is no response required and there is no fine to pay. If you have any questions about why you received a warning, or how photo enforcement warnings are processed, you can reach out to our Photo Enforcement customer service center at 1-866-790-4111 between 5:00 AM and 5:00 PM, excluding holidays or weekends. For more general questions, comments, or concerns about the Kenmore Automated Photo Enforcement (KAPE) program, please use our Report a Concern service on the Kenmore Website.

• Center for Human Services Clinical Programs and Family Support Center
•  Kenmore Elementary PTA - Social Service Crisis Support
• Northshore Youth and Family Services
• Crisis Connections of King County
• Healthpoint Primary Medical and Dental Care
• Northshore Senior Center – Adult Day Health and Wellness Programs  

•  YMCA Summer Lunch Program at Kenmore City Hall
• Hopelink Emergency Food Program
• Hopelink Emergency Housing Program
• Meals on Wheels (Sound Generations)
• Mary's Place Shelter and Family Services

The purpose of a permit is to help ensure that your construction project complies with City codes and essential safety standards. This compliance protects you in several important ways:

• Safety: By following the code, your project meets minimum safety standards designed to protect you, your family, and the public.
• Insurance: Property insurers may only cover work that was completed under a valid permit.
• Resale: If you sell your property, a permit demonstrates that the work was done to code, which can increase buyer confidence.
• Liability: In the event of a legal dispute, having a permit shows that the project met code requirements, offering added protection.

Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business with Department of Labor & Industries

Any property owner or authorized agent planning to construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish, or change the occupancy of a building or structure—or to install, alter, or replace any gas, mechanical, or plumbing system regulated by the building code—must first obtain the appropriate permit. Work within environmentally critical areas, shoreline areas, native growth protection areas (such as tracts), and their associated buffers may not be exempt from permit requirements. If your project involves any of these areas, please contact us at permittech@kenmorewa.gov before proceeding.

Important: Even if your project qualifies for a permit exemption, you are not authorized to perform any work that violates City codes, laws, or ordinances. Exemptions do not override code compliance requirements.

Per KMC 15.30.205, A building permit is not required for the following work on your private property:

• Painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, cabinets, countertops and similar finish work; provided, that existing, required accessible features are not altered.
• Temporary motion picture, television and theater stage sets, and scenery.
• Window awnings supported by an exterior wall of one- and two-family dwellings or Group R-3 and Group U occupancies which do not project more than 54 inches (1,372 mm) from the exterior wall and do not require additional support.
• Nonfixed and movable cases, counters and partitions not over five feet nine inches (1,753 mm) in height.
• Satellite earth station antennas six and one-half feet (two meters) or less in diameter or diagonal dimensions in zones other than residential zones.
• Satellite earth station antennas three and one-quarter feet (one meter) or less in diameter in residential zones; and
• Video programming service antennas three and one-quarter feet (one meter) or less in diameter or diagonal dimension, regardless of zone.
• Replacement of nonstructural siding on IRC structures except for veneer, stucco, or exterior finish and insulation lotssystems (EFIS).
• In-kind window replacement for IRC structures where no alteration of framing members is required and when the window U-values meet the prescriptive requirements within the Washington State Energy Code.
• Job shacks that are placed at a permitted job site during construction may be allowed on a temporary basis and shall be removed upon final approval of construction. A job shack is a portable structure for which the primary purpose is to house equipment and supplies, and which may serve as a temporary office during construction for the purposes of the construction activity.
• In-kind reroofing on IRC structures, provided roof sheathing is not removed, replaced or added.

A mechanical permit is required to install, alter, repair, replace or remodel per International Mechanical Code. A mechanical permit is not required for the following per Kenmore Municipal Code 15.30.205:

• Portable heating, cooking, or clothes drying appliances.
• Portable ventilation appliances and equipment.
• Portable cooling unit.
• Steam, hot or chilled water piping within any heating or cooling equipment or appliances regulated by the construction codes.
• Replacement of any part which does not alter its approval or make it unsafe.
• Portable evaporative cooler.
• Self-contained refrigeration system containing 10 pounds (4.54 kg) or less of refrigerant and actuated by motors of one horsepower (746 W) or less.
  Portable fuel cell appliances that are not connected to a fixed piping system and are not interconnected.

A plumbing permit is required for any installation, alteration, repair, replacement or remodel of any plumbing system per Uniform Plumbing Code. A plumbing permit is not required for the following per KMC 15.30.205:

• The stopping and/or repairing of leaks in drains, water, soil, waste or vent pipe; provided, however, that should any concealed trap, drain pipe, water, soil, waste or vent pipe become defective and it becomes necessary to remove and replace the same with new material, the same shall be considered as new work and a permit shall be obtained and inspection made as provided in this code.
• The clearing of stoppages or the repairing of leaks in pipes, valves or fixtures and the removal and reinstallation of water closets, provided such repairs do not involve or require replacement or rearrangement of valves, pipes or fixtures.
• Re-installation or replacement of prefabricated fixtures that do not involve or require the replacement or rearrangement of valves or pipes. [Ord. 10-0310 § 4 (Exh. C).]

Permits are required for all new signs or expansions of existing signs in Kenmore. No permit is needed for repainting, cleaning, or other normal maintenance and repair of a sign, or for sign face and content changes that do not alter the size or structure of the sign. Per KMC 18.42.030, sign permits are not required for the following:

• Historic site markers or plaques, gravestones, and address numbers.
• Signs required by law (e.g., traffic directional signs, official or legal notices issued and posted by any public agency or court).
• Plaques, tablets or inscriptions indicating the name of the building, date of erection, or other commemorative information, which are an integral part of the building structure or are attached flat to the face of the building, which are nonilluminated, and which do not exceed four square feet in surface area.
• Incidental signs, which shall not exceed two square feet in surface.
• State or Federal Flags.
• Religious symbols.
• Flag of a commercial institution. No more than one on-site flag is permitted per business premises, and the flag does not exceed 20 square feet in surface area.

Yes, however no open flames are allowed.

Daytime moorage is permitted. Overnight moorage is not allowed.

Please visit the Moorlands Park Athletic Field Rental page for more information.

• Online. Purchase or renew your pet's license online via the Regional Animal Services of King County website.
• In Person. Buy or renew a pet license in person at Kenmore City Hall or other convenient pet licensing locations throughout King County.
• Mail. Download an application form, or visit a convenient location near you to pick up an application form, and complete the Owner's Statement of Spay or Neuter form.

• The first time your pet is found, King County will attempt to skip the shelter and bring your pet home.
• Licensed pets have a longer stray hold at the shelter.
• The Vacation Pet Alert programs allows you to provide contact information for your pet care while you are away from home.
• Pet license fees support the return of hundreds of lost pets to their homes and help adopt thousands of homeless pets to new families each year. License revenues from Kenmore residents are applied to the City's service costs, so you are directly supporting the services provided in Kenmore.

• Three small animals may be kept in the City if your property is less than 20,000 square feet (0.4591 acre) in size.
• Five per household on lots of 20,000 to 35,000 (0.8035) square feet.
• Additional small animals: two per acre of site area over 35,000 square feet.
• Roosters are allowed in the total.

The property owner is responsible for removal. Please visit the Development Service's Trees page for information on tree removal.

The City requires a tree removal application for all tree removal not related to development. Please visit the Development Service's Trees page for information on tree removal.

Please visit Northshore Utility District's page on Locating Water and Sewer Lines.

Please visit the Washington 811 website to learn more about safe digging requirements.

Visit King County Parcel Viewer or iMap to view an approximate location of your parcel's property lines. For an accurate measurement, hire a professional surveyor. The City does not keep records of property lines.

Per KMC 12.70.050, the adjacent property owner is responsible for removal.

Snow and ice are cleared based on priority routes as shown on the Snow Removal Priority Map. First priority roads will be treated until they are safe to travel. Crews will then move on to second priority roads. If the weather event is still in progress, crews will move back to first priority roads until they are once again safe. Despite the use of four-wheel drive and chains, some streets are still not safely navigable by the City's fleet. A decision to close a road may be made if it is deemed too hazardous to safely treat.

There is typically a "Road Maintenance Agreement" which is recorded with the plat assigning maintenance, repair and replacement responsibilities to the property owners who use the road for access. King County iMap or Parcel Viewer are helpful tools for property research.

Please see the Maintaining Sidewalks flyer for more information. Depending on the situation, sidewalk repairs may be the responsibility of the City or the adjacent property owner.

Public Works Operations repairs potholes on most streets with the exception of private roads and SR 522 (NE Bothell Way) which is a state highway. To report potholes on SR 522, visit WSDOT's online service request portal.

Street sweeping is not request based with the exception of safety issues such as gravel, or illicit discharge issues such as mud tracked on the road. The City has a contract for street sweeping which is scheduled to complete a full city sweep five times per year. The City operates it's own street sweeper weekly on the arterial roads to keep bike lanes free of debris. The City will also do additional city sweeps during the fall and winter months to clean up leafy debris.

Most likely, someone has marked the location of underground utilities. Any individual can request these markings (free of charge) through Washington 811 and the law requires the utilities in the right of way to be marked.

Northshore Utility District maintains fire hydrants through a Hydrant Maintenance Program.

Guardrails are maintained by King County through a service contract with the City of Kenmore. Please submit concerns directly to the City for review and routing.

Please immediately call Public Works at (425) 398-8900 to report water quality violations and illegal dumping. If you call after hours, on-call staff are available to receive your call. Pollutants discharged into the environment can often migrate from the area quickly. Prompt reporting is often needed in order to stop pollutants from spreading and allows the City to hold the responsible party accountable.

The City has a map of the drainage system. When viewing the map, select "stormwater" from the layers menu and the City's entire drainage system will be available to view.

City owned surface water facilities, such as ponds and water quality swales, are typically mowed between May and September. The City owns many facilities and each round of mowing may take 4 - 6 weeks depending on seasonal variations. The City will complete 2 - 3 rounds of mowing per year.

If the catch basin is in a busy roadway or you do not feel safe near it, please call Public Works and someone will assist you. A catch basin may be blocked for a variety of reasons. Most commonly, leaves or debris may be blocking the opening into the catch basin (particularly in fall) and simply removing the blockage from around the surface of the structure will allow it to drain. If the catch basin appears to be backed up internally, please call Public Works.

Adjacent property owners are responsible for maintaining vegetation and aesthetics of ditches. Additional information can be found by viewing the Right of Way Maintenance flyer. Public Works only conducts maintenance required for the structural integrity and function of the ditch.

Typically, the City only operates and maintains the drainage system in public right-of-way and on City owned properties. Maintenance of drainage systems on private property is typically the responsibility of the property owner unless a recorded easement was granted to the City (or King County) for the purpose of maintaining the drainage system.

No, ditch filling is generally not allowed. Drainage systems utilizing ditches are not designed to function the same as systems utilizing curbs, gutters and catch basins and intermittent ditch filling often leads to system wide issues, add polluted runoff and creates flooding problems downstream.

The City of Kenmore has two programs that address pedestrian safety and accessibility: The Pedestrian Facilities Plan and the ADA Transition Plan. 

Pedestrian Facilities Plan: With the large need for sidewalks with the City, areas were identified as high priority for constructing pedestrian facilities.  The plan identifies 159 projects proposed throughout the City. Projects were identified by road type, proximity to and influence by schools, proximity to public services, and the number of pedestrian that could potential be served by the project.  All identified projects were scored from several criteria and given a priority number.  Unfortunately, given the high number of projects and cost involved, the process for building new sidewalks will be slow and heavily dependent upon available funding. As such, the City engineering team look for outside funding sources to help speed along the construction of projects.  To be competitive, some projects are pulled out of order as they may rate higher with grant agencies and may get funding. We make every effort to secure funding for the projects in the plan but with limited funds and resources, we cannot address every concern in the short term.

ADA Transition Plan: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan identifies where the existing sidewalks, curb ramps, crosswalks, parking, and push buttons (Elements) do not meet accessibility guidelines.  The plan looks at the number and type of issues with each Element and assess what needs to be done to bring it into compliance with ADA and then it is assigned a priority. Funding has been approved by the City Council to address these concerns, however, the issues are numerous and funding and resources are limited. Our goal is to address as many concerns as possible every other year based upon the transition plan.

The City of Kenmore takes the risk of crashes and the risk of severe or fatal crash injury very seriously. The City’s engineering department evaluates crash risk and crash severity through analysis of the crash history on City streets, as well as through the identification of features which affect crash risk or precursors to crash risk even in areas where severe crashes have not yet occurred, such as elevated travel speeds or frequent pedestrian or cyclist conflicts. Crash history analysis and crash risk analysis are included in the City’s Local Road Safety Plan, which identifies projects which will reduce crash risk and prioritizes those projects in a way that provides the greatest safety improvement with the resources available.

The City of Kenmore collects speed and volume data at over 100 locations each year and maintains a detailed database of travel speed and traffic volume data for all major roads and many neighborhood streets as well. This allows the City to monitor its streets proactively for problematic travel speeds and identify opportunities for traffic calming and speed management projects. Many roads throughout Kenmore do have speeds that are higher than is desired; because budget and staff resources are limited, however, the roads that are prioritized for new projects and traffic calming are those that have the greatest risk of speed-related crashes. If there is an issue with problematic travel speeds on a street in Kenmore, it is very likely that the City is already aware of it and working to address the issue as soon as is feasible. If the City receives a service request related to travel speed at a location not near an existing study location, a new study will be scheduled to monitor travel speeds at that location, and travel speed concerns at that location will be prioritized along with all other travel speed concerns throughout the City.

Kenmore is a small town, and generally our police department has at most two patrol vehicles active at any time. It’s impossible for Kenmore’s law enforcement officers to happen across all parking violations on their own, and reporting by residents is immensely helpful in making sure Kenmore’s parking restrictions are enforceable, and that enforcement is able to discourage future violations. Parking violations will not be addressed by engineering measures except at the request of the Kenmore Police Department; enforcement by KPD is always the first step in resolving issues related to parking violations. Parking violations can be reported to the police by following the non-emergency report instructions on our website: https://www.kenmorewa.gov/i-want-to/report-a-concern

Being able to see and be seen by vehicles in the traffic environment is a critical safety factor for all road users, whether exiting a driveway, navigating an intersection, crossing the street, or any number of other areas where there is a potential for conflicting paths with an oncoming vehicle. When a service request regarding sight line concerns is received for a location where no sight distance study has been conducted recently, the City will conduct a study to evaluate whether travel speeds and sight lines are adequate, and, if not, the City will identify what changes need to be made to meet standards for reasonably safe use of the roadway.

Please visit the Street Parking page for more information.

Police enforce illegally parked vehicles on public streets. Please report illegal parking to King County Sheriff Non-Emergency Dispatch at (206) 296-3311 or report online. City staff does not have the ability to ticket and/or tow illegally parking vehicles.

The Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program is currently under review and this FAQ will be updated soon.

Washington State Department of Transportation operates and maintains signals on SR 522 and within 1 block of the highway. More information on the 14 signals within Kenmore, including ownership and maintenance responsibility, visit the Traffic page in Engineering. City staff works closely with King County and WSDOT. Please submit concerns regarding traffic signals directly to the City for review and routing to the appropriate jurisdiction.

Please see the Intersection Sight Distance flyer for more information.

Please see the Maintaining Vegetation and Right of Way Maintenance flyers for more information. Per KMC 12.70.040, maintenance of planting strips, including trees, tree limbs that protrude over the road and sidewalk, shrubbery, weeds, grass or other ground cover, will be the responsibility of the abutting property owner. Vegetation in planting strips will be kept in a condition that does not impair the use by the traveling public of the right of way.

The property owner is responsible for removal. Please visit the Development Service's Trees page for information on tree removal.