Traffic alert update: Crash at 37th/Admiral – scene now clear

(sidewalk/planter damage visible, beyond tow trailer with the crashed car on it)
Thanks to Meredith for the tip – traffic is moving very slowly along Admiral at 37th (between the business district and the viewpoint), where she says a crash appears to have taken out some of the median plantings, and responding police/fire have blocked at least two lanes. So avoid the area TFN. No word yet on whether anyone’s hurt. 2:04 PM UPDATE: We’re at the scene; the crash is in the westbound lanes right at the top of the hill before it curves toward the business district, but east/southbound traffic also is down to one lane till it’s cleared. 3:19 PM UPDATE: Adding photos. Car’s been towed.

RobertSeattle April 22, 2009 (2:21 pm)

I’m sure all vehicles involved were going the posted speak limit /Snark.

Irukandji April 22, 2009 (2:43 pm)

Looks like the errant vehicle took out the remaining planters along the sidewalk on the north side as well as a sign or two.

Note April 22, 2009 (2:49 pm)

The car careened over the sidewalk to hit these planters as many have done before. What if there was a person walking, a child riding his bike? What is it going to take to make that turn safe? Nobody is going the speed limit. We need that stop light to become a working traffic light which operates all the time. Slow people down before one of us is killed by someone who wants to get to their destination five minutes early.
Now the residents of the neighborhood get to look at the broken debris in front of that house till hell freezes over due to the neglectful absentee owner. The property is already a disaster.

KBear April 22, 2009 (4:10 pm)

Go ahead and ask for a traffic light. I’ll bet the city will say something like, “It doesn’t meet national guidelines for a traffic light. Our data show very few accidents and injuries, and no deaths at this location, therefore we regard it as a safe intersection.” Then they’ll take out the crosswalk (if there is one), and pay a multimillion dollar settlement when someone does get hurt.

Irukandji April 22, 2009 (4:32 pm)

KBear, that’s EXACTLY what we’ve been told.
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Until there are more deaths, things are as they are. When pressed on how many people we had to see die before any traffic calming would be established and if my kid needed to be one of them, they just shuffle paper, mumble and end the call.
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I watched just yesterday as a man trying to cross at 39th to get to the bus stop heading east on Admiral waited in the middle of the road as more than a dozen cars sped right by him. Not one could be bothered to stop. No idea how long he waited on the corner at Admiral before having the opportunity to get safely to the midpoint.

mae April 22, 2009 (4:39 pm)

How about a guardrail here instead? I can’t believe the number of times those planters have been rebuilt!

NY Vinnie April 22, 2009 (5:40 pm)

In the 16 years i’ve lived here I have lost count of how many times I have seen those planters destroyed. At what point does the city figure out that it is a dangerous spot and put a guardrail up? We spend millions for “sound walls” on the side of the freeway that mitigate sound to people who moved next to the freeway knowing it is noisy and not a dollar to protect people walking along Admiral. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense. Oh and one more thing…you might want to forget about putting the planters back up until they put a guard rail up. Better yet put a sign up that asks the mayor why no guard rail? He passes there on his way home every night!

JayDee April 22, 2009 (6:48 pm)

Even without speeding, that turn is off-camber, and low-skill drivers have difficulties with it. A moments inattention or cell phone, and whammo–the car takes a tangent.
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I have lived here 12+ years and this is at least the 6th time the planters, trees, signs, curbs on this corner have been struck. Maybe we can install poured concrete, and make it look like rock?
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Just underneath the pavement was the foundation of red-brick under that turn (though they may have removed it during the last paving project).

Sorry, comment time is over.