Making 35th SW safer: SDOT adds second community meeting

| Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

(WSB photo from 2008: One of many safety rallies/demonstrations on ‘I-35’)
Just in from SDOT: Two meetings are now planned to kick off the 35th SW safety-improvement program. The 6:30-8 pm meeting next Wednesday (October 22nd) at Neighborhood House’s High Point Center was announced back in August; now, they’re adding a meeting on Tuesday, October 28th, 3:30-5 pm at Southwest Branch Library. Plans for the “multi-year” safety project were first announced back in February, after years of crashes and concerns along what’s been dubbed “I-35.”

Diane October 17, 2014 (11:23 am)

thanks for this; I never saw the first post in Aug, and someone mentioned the other night that Oct 22 conflicts with next WS land use meeting, so now I know what they were talking about; and good to have a 2nd meeting date

Oakley34 October 17, 2014 (11:31 am)

Crazy suggestion: enforce the speed limit? I almost never see anyone pulled over on 35th. A little visible enforcement can go a long way towards curbing speed trends. Some more of those dynamic ‘your current speed’ signs would also be a boon.
4 lanes a highway does not make.

WSB October 17, 2014 (11:45 am)

Oakley – there was a speed enforcement program earlier this year – Capt. Wilske of the precinct mentioned at this week’s Delridge District Council meeting (we haven’t written our story yet) that something like 200 tickets were written.

vanessa October 17, 2014 (11:42 am)

Yesterday around 5 pm, I almost got rear ended in the middle lane and would have been sandwiched into the car in front of me who was turning left, by a woman going so fast, zig-zaging in and out of lanes trying to get around the bus. If I wasn’t nearly having a heart attack, watching all of this coming towards me in the rear view mirror, IF, IF, IF..If I had gotten her license plate, is there a place to call these into the police? Probably not. It’s my word against theirs. Right. Good luck with your program. Drivers and my blood pressure: YIKES !

trickycoolj October 17, 2014 (12:01 pm)

Oakley – Actually I think at least one of the electronic speed signs broke earlier this year and they just took it down instead of replacing it. It was at or right around the intersection of Findlay I believe.

carole October 17, 2014 (12:30 pm)

I was NB on 35th while the OLG school zone lights were flashing, right lane, Thursday afternoon, going 20. Kids were on the sidewalks in the area, school busses were on the road. EVERY car in the left lane passed me, over 20 mph, and one white jeep sat right on my bumper until he could pass on the left, then he sped forward, recklessly jumping lanes back and forth. At 35th and Avalon he was curb lane, I was left lane, he was 4 cars back. Guess that saved him a lot of time, huh? SLOW DOWN PEOPLE!

dsa October 17, 2014 (1:01 pm)

Yes, enforce the speed limit. Do it like on Admiral hill. Train the drivers that enforcement is not just a one time thing, but a continuous surprise.

Jeff October 17, 2014 (1:40 pm)

Carole, white Jeep guy is a notorious west Seattle road rage, unfortunately.

j October 17, 2014 (3:49 pm)

The SPD ADRT has written 100’s and 100’s of citations on 35th. The Speed Van camera has also resulted in 100’s of citations issued. At some point it becomes an engineering issue – not just education through enforcement. The SDOT review is long overdue.

Mat October 17, 2014 (3:55 pm)

Vanessa, I’ve been in the same spot a number of times and feel like it’s only a matter of time before I get rear ended since I drive 35th daily.

I plan to attend the meeting and ask for consideration of a middle turn lane, right turn lane and only one traffic lane in each direction in place of what they have now. It’s pretty clear after driving on the road even briefly during a busy time that the issue isn’t the overall volume, it’s the interruption of that volume from drivers turning onto arterials which often causes a cascade of drivers maneuvering around the car waiting to turn (or bus stopping) at speed.