Bedinger family asks for Hwy 101 road barriers

By Erin Hawkins • August 29, 2018 1:30 am
Brooke Bedinger’s family stands at her memorial on the side of US Highway 101 at the Morse Creek curve east of Port Angeles near the site where she died in a motorcycle wreck on June 21. From left, Pat Poage, Brooke’s uncle Woody Johnson, grandfather Gary Johnson, grandmother Debbie Johnson, uncle Josh Robbins, father Don Bedinger, mother Kim Bedinger with niece Ella Bedinger, brother Chase Bedinger, nephew Corbin Alves, grandmother Kathy Bedinger, brother Donald Bedinger and sister-in-law Katy Bedinger, stand together. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins
Brooke Bedinger’s family stands at her memorial on the side of US Highway 101 at the Morse Creek curve east of Port Angeles near the site where she died in a motorcycle wreck on June 21. From left, Pat Poage, Brooke’s uncle Woody Johnson, grandfather Gary Johnson, grandmother Debbie Johnson, uncle Josh Robbins, father Don Bedinger, mother Kim Bedinger with niece Ella Bedinger, brother Chase Bedinger, nephew Corbin Alves, grandmother Kathy Bedinger, brother Donald Bedinger and sister-in-law Katy Bedinger, stand together. Sequim Gazette photo by Erin Hawkins

Barriers for Brooke/Morse Creek informational meeting

When: 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11

Where: The Boys and Girls Club in Sequim, 400 W. Fir St.

Contact: Kim Bedinger at mommykb74@gmail.com

Kim and Don Bedinger look to make the Morse Creek curve on US Highway 101 east of Port Angeles safer for all travelers after their daughter Brooke Bedinger, 19, died while riding her motorcycle on that curve on June 21.

The family hopes to get enough support to install a concrete barrier or bridge at the curve within the next few years. The curve does not have a barrier to-date and separates a four-lane highway by yellow markers.

“We realize it’s going to take some time,” Kim Bedinger, Brooke’s mother, said. “It’s a dangerous roadway and we need to address it. I don’t want to see anyone else get hurt.”

According to Washington State Patrol, in 2018 there have been 15 vehicle crashes on US Highway 101 between the areas of milepost 252-254 (the Morse Creek curve). In the past 10 years (2007-present) there have been about 250 crashes in the area.

Since 2014, there have been seven motorcycle crashes from milepost 252-254, with one crash (Brooke’s) involving a fatality in 2018.

There have been a total of four fatal vehicle crashes at the site in the past 10 years.

The Bedinger family asks the community to help them get the ball rolling to make the curve safer for all motor vehicles and plans to hold a meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 11, at the Boys and Girls Club in Sequim, 4oo W. Fir St.

The meeting is open to anyone who would like to help them get the conversation started on how they can accomplish their goal.

“We want to start getting ideas to brainstorm,” Kim said. “Doing it as a community will make more of an impact.”

For now, the family plans to research the different types of road barriers, write letters to the editors of local newspapers, write to local and state representatives, possibly plan fundraisers and events to help gain support for their cause and more.

“Maybe if there had been a barrier, she maybe would have survived,” Kim Bedinger said.

“We just want to save a life. If we can save a life then we have succeeded.”

A Facebook page titled “Barriers for Brookie/Morse Creek” has been started where the Bedingers hope to gain online support and spread the word. To learn more about the Bedingers efforts, visit www.facebook.com/ groups/ 344021273003803/.

For more information, contact Kim Bedinger at mommykb74@gmail.com.