TRAFFIC ALERT: Admiral Way ‘sinkhole’

ORIGINAL REPORT, MONDAY, MAY 8TH: Thanks to the anonymous reader who sent that photo, saying SDOT just blocked off a “sinkhole” right in the middle of the uphill (eastbound) travel lane on Admiral Way at 57th. We don’t know if a crew will be working on it tonight – if not, we’ll check on it first thing in the morning.

UPDATED FRIDAY, MAY 12TH: After noticing last night that it wasn’t fixed yet, we asked SDOT today about the repair plan. At day’s end, they said the hole was scheduled for repair today; we drove by tonight and indeed, it has been.

Kim May 8, 2017 (8:33 pm)

I hit it this morning! Dang!

Alki Neighbor May 8, 2017 (8:43 pm)

Me too!

Robert May 8, 2017 (8:53 pm)

I am amused that it appears to be at a location that was previously patched…

Dan May 8, 2017 (9:46 pm)

Also hit it. 2 flat tires. Very dangerous.

GG May 9, 2017 (8:06 am)

I hope you got the city to pay for your flat tires.

wscommuter May 8, 2017 (9:47 pm)

Not just previously patched – this is the precise location that has been a sinkhole and repeatedly patched about a year ago – this sinkhole has been filled in with 5 or 6 feet of asphalt so far – at some point, the city is going to have really go in and fix the subsurface subsidence (no coincidence this opened after a wet winter and last week’s big rain event) with something way more robust than just throwing asphalt into the hole.

Mark May 8, 2017 (10:33 pm)

It appears to be spot that always seamed to have water seaping out, from observation last year. Water can erode away the foundation.

Rick May 8, 2017 (10:48 pm)

So that’s where my tax dollars are going.

Mike May 9, 2017 (12:01 am)

Well…most of it is in the bigger sink hole where the city council sits, but ya…some of it is definitely falling in on Admiral Way.

Lamont May 8, 2017 (10:53 pm)

Yeah, I mostly dodged it earlier today, but clipped the edge of it. It looks hungry for tires, control arms, and tie rods…

AdmiralWayResident May 9, 2017 (8:24 am)

This isn’t the exact spot as last year’s sinkhole. That one is just to the east of the current sinkhole. This one has been sinking and being filled since at last Easter.

AdmiralWayResident May 9, 2017 (9:37 am)

at least Easter (not last Easter)

Alkistu May 9, 2017 (10:26 am)

As you can all clearly see the patched area from one of our private developers is where they had cut into the road for utilities. This is the main cause for road surface damage and as the developers profit from our current municipal policies the tax payers pick up the bill for the mess they leave behind.

If anyone has been a victim of this sink hole the option is there to find out who the developer or contractor was and file a suit for public property damage as well as personal property damage.

sadtaco May 9, 2017 (10:45 am)

I’ve contacted the City about the state of Admiral Way numerous times in the past, and managed to get a tepid response from Susan Mclaughlin from SDOT. I questioned the city’s “Pavement to Parks” program, which converts city blocks downtown to urban parks (typically in Belltown).
While aesthetically pleasing, they only benefit the immediate community. Susan’s response is below, and I thought you would be interested in reading it. She states that the funds for that program are derived from a separate source than street repairs. I see the city diverting funds all the time, why would this be any different? I’d love to go back to Nicaragua to surf, but having recently changed jobs, I think I’ll do the responsible thing and divert money I had saved for that towards paying down my credit card.

I became frustrated after the city decided to re-stripe Admiral last year, removing the center turn lane in the process (causing delays and backups in regularly now). I’m just flat out tired of watching the city blow tax dollars instead of actually fixing and addressing the problem. I ride a motorcycle, and this sinkhole and other parts of Admiral are constantly on my mind. That whole stretch of road is worse than downtown Mogadishu.

———-
Forwarded message ———-
From: McLaughlin, Susan <Susan.McLaughlin@seattle.gov>
Date: Thu, Oct 13, 2016 at 9:17 AM
Subject: RE: Pavement to parks

Thank you for your
feedback and I appreciate your concern about the condition of the pavement on
Admiral Way. The pavement to parks funding is sourced from development fees
that are paid for use of the right of way during construction. Pavement
restoration is sourced from the 9 year paving program, funded through the levy.
SW Admiral Way is
an identified paving need, however due to a significant backlog in deferred
maintenance it is not identified in the 9-year plan so there is no timetable
for its replacement. The 9-year plan does include other major West
Seattle corridors such as 35^th Ave SW and SW Avalon St that are in
similar or worse condition, and serve more daily users.

A good
resource of information about Seattle’s arterial street can be found here:

http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/pavementmanagement.htm

KM May 9, 2017 (5:59 pm)

To clarify about the sinkhole that was fixed 13 months ago a little east of the current sinkhole on Admiral Way; according to the city they are not responsible for fixing sinkholes caused by side sewer failures, it is the homeowner’s responsibility. I know this because I and my neighbor who share the side sewer had to pay $33,000+ to fix our sewer lines and that sinkhole last year. I suspect that the current sinkhole is because of a neighbor’s side sewer failure. The city people were really not very nice about the whole thing either.