Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of stories on SR 302.

Many Key Peninsula residents are acutely aware of the dangers of SR 302. Some have first-hand experience with dangerous intersections and car accidents. One site along SR 302 became very personal for Danna Burnett and her family. Her son Michael Iverson died in an accident near mile marker 11 on SR 302 on his way home from work in the early hours of Sept. 25.

Burnett decided she had to do something to bring more attention to the dangerous roadway, and push for a change.

“One of Michael’s friends said her mother works for a lady on the Key Peninsula Community Council and they were having a meeting,” she said. “I went to the meeting and told them something needs to happen. If there would’ve been a guardrail or maybe some lights, he might have survived.”

Talking about it is difficult for her, but she is determined to keep fighting to make the road safer.

Two weeks after Michael’s accident Burnett attended the meeting.

“Mary Blythe spoke for her (Danna Burnett) that night and that initiated our incentive to form the Action Committee For A Safe SR 302,” said Danna Webster, president of the council. “We took it under advisement for our director workshop, where we designed what we would do for the year ahead. We adopted it at that workshop as one of the three action committees.”

Burnett said she hopes to save other families from the grief and pain hers is experiencing. Just two weeks after his accident a single mother died on SR 302 near 144^th St., and as motorists drive along the highway, crosses can be seen, marking the place where loved ones were taken.

While they are grieving for Michael, Burnett and her family are faced with the joy of a new life joining their family.

Two days after Michael died his girlfriend, Rose, found out she was having their baby. She is due in May.

“He had a dream when he was a kid, when he was about 12. He dreamt he was going to die. He had that dream again in August. We were at Lake Crescent, which is our family vacation each year. He dreamt that he was going to die, and that he had a son.”

Last month Rose was told she is carrying a boy.

Michael was social, he worked hard, and was kind to everyone, Burnett said. He always tried to help others, and was working sometimes two and three jobs to make ends meet.

“As a mom, his whole life I worried about losing him,” she said. “I’m sure I harassed him a lot just to call him and see where he was. If we don’t change this highway there’s just going to be more death, more moms losing their children.”

The Action Committee for a Safe SR 302 meets the second Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m. in the Key Center Fire Station meeting room.