TACOMA, Wash. — Nine months after 22-year-old Kristen Heber died in a crash on Norpoint Way, her family is calling for safety improvements to the steep, winding road in Northeast Tacoma.

Heber’s family said she died on a rainy evening in December 2024 — Friday the 13th. She was driving down Norpoint Way toward the Port of Tacoma. According to her family, she lost control on a curve and veered into oncoming traffic.

“We had planned to move out together,” said her younger sister, Ryann Heber. “I just never imagined a life that didn’t have her in it.”

Norpoint Way, which runs from the top of Northeast Tacoma down toward the port, has been the site of several serious crashes in recent years. Between 2018 and 2024, there were six crashes on the same curve that resulted in either fatalities o

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