Pigeon Point sinkhole problem – on the path to Pathfinder K-8

| Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

Thanks to Mark and Jeanne for sending the photo and raising the flag about a sinkhole on Pigeon Point. They explain:

On the 3800 block of 19th Ave SW, there has been an existing crack/depression in the street for some time. It worsened recently, and yesterday it broke through to expose a void between the street and the ground. A truck traveling down the street sustained damage to tire and axle and required a tow. Seattle Police and SDOT responded late yesterday and put up barriers. I spoke with the SDOT responder and was told SDOT would return to fully diagnose and address the issue.

Note (that) 19th Ave SW has been used starting this school year by school buses traveling to and from Pathfinder K-8 … school buses will have a very difficult time turning around on the corner of 19th Ave SW and SW Charlestown.

Here’s a Google Map aerial grab they also shared to show where this is (19th just south of Charlestown – top of the image is north, bottom is south):

The concern might be moot if the sinkhole is fixed by Tuesday morning (no school tomorrow because of Veterans Day), but they fear that’s unlikely, so they’re sounding the alarm. Sometimes – as was the case in Admiral last year – these problems run a lot deeper than you’d think.

Mike November 11, 2012 (12:38 pm)

I hope the driver does not have the same issue with the city I had when hitting a large pot hole that blew out my tire. “oh, we never had a report of that pothole there, not our fault”. So ya, $900 in tires (AWD, can’t run them at different tread depth rates) later and an alignment I was back on the road. I really hope this driver sticks the city with a massive bill.

pamela November 11, 2012 (2:15 pm)

thanks sdot for securing the void. did spu really check the sewer line? the sewer line is down the middle of the road? spu needs to do some real work and stop sleeping on the job. my tax payers money pays their wages and this is clearly not a pothole!! get up spu and fix this mess!!

WSB November 11, 2012 (3:11 pm)

Actually, SDOT needs to evaluate it first to figure out the problem. If it’s anything like the Admiral sinkhole mentioned in our story (a year and a half ago), repairs could take quite some time – that one eventually involved digging almost 30 feet down to repair a utility line, which is not something you can just get done on a Sunday afternoon. SDOT has interesting background on potholes/sinkholes and how to report them, if you check out this page on the city website: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/potholes – TR

PP Denizen November 11, 2012 (9:26 pm)

This might have been avoided if the person on 21st would have moved their truck to let buses pass through…(which would have avoided the school bus re-routing)

Just sayin’.

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