100 days, 422 signs: From the mayor’s list

Today is Mayor Jenny Durkan‘s 100th day in office. (And she’ll be back in West Seattle tonight.) Her office sent a long list of what she’s done in those first 100 days – and one section of the list caught our eye, touting hundreds of new street signs:

Maintaining and Preserving Our Roads, and Responding to Winter Weather: Under Mayor Durkan’s first 100 days, the City has made important strides in maintaining and preserving our City’s roadway infrastructure. In the last 100 days, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) filled 7,200 potholes, installed 128 new crosswalks, 360 new directional signs (like speed limit signs), and replaced 62 street signs. In addition, SDOT teams worked approximately 32 shifts over 16 days to respond to the threat of snow and ice from late December to early March.

Though a breakdown wasn’t provided, anecdotally we’ve seen a fair number of new “no parking” signs around the area, mostly the kind meant to warn you from parking too close to a corner or driveway. A few of them have also removed parking spaces.

With the intent of a story about the signage – even before today’s mayoral list – we asked SDOT recently about the sign additions, and spokesperson Karen Westing shared the explanation from the Transportation Operations team:

Projects that install parking restrictions can generally be grouped into three categories:

-projects where parking restrictions are part of a larger operational change
-projects signing the existing legal restrictions
-projects that restrict otherwise legal parking to reduce collision risk or improve roadway function

Seven signs – including the ones in our photos – placed recently here in Upper Fauntleroy, SDOT says, were “examples of the second and third types,” as were signs placed in a north Morgan Junction neighborhood that was the original reason for our inquiry. In that neighborhood, near 41st/Graham, she told us, “we restricted two parking spaces to improve sight lines between drivers on Graham coming over the crest of the hill and pedestrians crossing the street.”

Westing says the signs are installed in batches “because our layout and maintenance/installation crews group nearby projects to avoid unnecessary travel-time.” And she says they often are the result of “constituent correspondence” – such as complaints – that result in a review by SDOT engineering staff. Side note: While researching this, we realized that the little flags we had seen placed in planting strips, marking utility lines, seemed to be the precursors to sign installation, so if you see them, new signage might be on the way.

17 Replies to "100 days, 422 signs: From the mayor's list"

  • Howard March 8, 2018 (4:16 pm)

    Signage is not the issue, we dont enforce the laws we have. Parking enforcement is way lax, look at that Honda, parked within 15ft of the hydrant. I’ve heard the city say before, where do we get the money to hire more officers? I can write a thousand dollars worth of parking tickets within 5 hours. 

    • T March 8, 2018 (5:12 pm)

      Totally agree Howard. We need enforcement. Right now, generally, no one is afraid of getting a ticket because they have gotten away with it for so long / they know the odds are in their favor because there aren’t enough PEOs. The only option which isn’t ideal, on several levels, is to put the onus on citizens to “call it (violations) in”.

      Yeah signs work somewhat but it’s not a solution in my opinion.

      Imagine how many tickets we could write if we included moving violations in addition to parking infractions! :)

    • ArborHeightsRes March 8, 2018 (5:28 pm)

      Parking Enforcement has no problems showing up to ticket cars parked on Fauntleroy at Lincoln Park when the non parking restrictions take place. 

      • WSB March 8, 2018 (5:39 pm)

        Parking Enforcement, since you mention it, is complaint-based. I don’t know what their reply rate is but I hear the dispatches on the regular police frequency day and night, someone blocking a driveway, that sort of thing – TR

    • More parking police March 8, 2018 (8:56 pm)

      @Howard

      Couldn’t agree more!  Even on short walks I find so many people parked incorrectly that I am baffled why the city isn’t hiring more parking police.  They’d pay for themselves in no time flat, even just by walking around a neighborhood!

  • wetone March 8, 2018 (5:09 pm)

    Do those signs mean anything for those living in their vehicles or just those that that live or visiting in area of signs ?  Maybe everyone should start covering their vehicle windows and post signage saying it’s my home and I’m sleeping,  Don’t Wake Me……… parking for all anywhere, anytime and free : ) …….  Seattle’s government is really lost.

    • Anonymous Coward March 9, 2018 (4:50 am)

      Apparently, the answer is yes.  There used to be 4-5 campers under the 1st Ave bridge.  Within the last month, someone cleared them out and cleaned up the flotsam and jetsam left behind.  A new “crew” arrived a couple days later and within a week, they, too, were moved along and this time giant concrete blocks were placed in the parking spaces and “no parking” signs installed.   And that was the end of the campers under the bridge.

  • Mr. K March 8, 2018 (5:30 pm)

    They’re hiring! Apply! Starts at $45.9k

    https://www.seattle.gov/police/police-jobs/civilian-jobs/parking-enforcement

  • carole March 8, 2018 (6:26 pm)

    Perhaps they should paint the curbs red at stop signs to clearly display what 30 feet is.  There are always cars parked in Andover facing 35th that are barely a one car length, or less, from that stop sign.

  • carole March 8, 2018 (6:29 pm)

    At the top of the WS Bridge, heading east, just before you reach the pedestrian overpass, there is a sign that says simply “right lane.”  ????

    • PLS March 9, 2018 (8:36 am)

      Looks like it may be missing another sign, Carole. Guess the clearance on the right lane is less due to the overpass slope. That’d be a good one to replace! :)

  • jm18 March 8, 2018 (7:03 pm)

    People (mainly bowlers in the evening) have blocked our driveway so many times. Each time I’ve called PE and they come out within an hour and ticket and/or tow.  The issue I have is people just not caring about whether or not residents can park in their own driveways.

  • AMD March 9, 2018 (5:11 am)

    I really hope we get some of these on Henderson.  Sight lines to turn onto or cross the street are really bad when cars are parked between 15th and 11th or so.  I know a few of us have e-mailed SDoT about the issues.  I wonder how many it takes.

  • Rick March 9, 2018 (8:35 am)

    My business is between 2 new bldgs. near Morgan and for the last 6 months construction crews have all but eliminated customer parking in the 2 hr zone. My(and other bldg. tenants)driveway is blocked on a daily basis. Ive watched the PEO write up a ticket,prepare to exit her vehicle to place on truck in driveway,do a double take on her device,reclick her seatbelt and drive away. That prompted me to contact parking enforcement and I got 4 responses(excuses) within 10 minutes. (e-mail). I have also witnessed PEO’s mark tires of cars in front of my business while bypassing construction trucks who had been there most of the day. Selective enforcement in action. Then this latest judge’s ruling. Yeah,we got a parking problem.

  • Cynical girl March 9, 2018 (11:00 am)

    There’s plenty of parking. Just park in the middle/ turn lane like I see up to 7x a day. Don’t forget to put your hazards on so you give the impression that you’ll only be a skinny little minute even though you’ve been parked for 45 minutes. If possible, block the line of sight in all directions.

  • Rick March 9, 2018 (6:57 pm)

    Yeah! Baby!

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