And why doesn’t the city turn Charleston into a one way street, heading up the hill? Maybe from 51st to California.

We live on the NE corner of Charlestown/47th. We should organize and approach the city w/ some possible solutions. I like your idea of additional signs.

Speed bumps, similar to the ones found on Beach Drive (which I believe is also an arterial) might be another option.

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The City did something, back, I believe in the ’70’s. I don’t remember if it was stop signs on Charlestown, or a “No Left Turn” westbound to southbound, or some other restriction. If it’s totally uncontrolled, and unrestricted now, it would be interesting to know the City’s reasoning for lifting the restriction.

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My Aunt’s Mother lived in the house on the southwest corner of 46 & Charlestown from probably going back at least to the ’40’s or 30’s, until she passed away in 1981, and as Chuck points out above, it’s been a problem for decades. My Aunt and Uncle lived a short distance away at 41st & Manning, and instead of going the quickest way, up 41st to Charlestown, then down Charlestown to 46th, she’d take the “long way” around, going south down to Bradford, or Andover (whichever goes all the way through westbound), and come back up northbound on 46th, just to avoid making that blind left turn at the top of the hill.

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Mike

This hill has been a continual problem for decades. Drivers traveling Westbound on Charlestown from California have quite a distance to build up speed before approaching the top of the hill. The hill is poorly signed, and for those unfamiliar with the neighborhood it often catches them by total surprise. Even traveling at 30 or 40 mph over this hill is dangerous. Drivers are often going so fast that they fail to stop at the stop sign at the bottom of the hill at 47th. With a Middle School just a block away and an Elementary School a few blocks away this is incredibly dangerous. I cannot help but think this is a potential liability for the city as a case might be made for negligence in managing the risk.

One inexpensive solution to this problem would be a stop sign on westbound Charlestown at 46th Ave SW. This would force cars to stop before proceeding down the hill and therefore would reduce the rate the vast majority of the drivers took the hill. It would not stop the occasional drunk driver or reckless kid. However, many of these accidents have been people traveling at excessive speed; and most have been from outside the area, unfamiliar with the dramatic slope of the hill. A simple stop sign might save lives.
The addition of a flashing light drawing attention to the existing steep hill warning sign (which goes completely unnoticed) would go along way toward warning people of this dangerous hill as well.

The combination of these two improvements would cost the City very little, not impede the flow of traffic, not impair the ability of emergency response vehicles to maneuver, and would greatly improve the safety of the surrounding neighborhood.

I checked again with police this morning. They both survived, according to Detective Mark Jamieson in the media unit; he called the Traffic Collision investigators. Serious injuries but expected at this point to recover.

The hospital in Olympia? Anyway, if you know anyone from your friend’s family (or if anyone reading this is from the family of either victim), many people are concerned about how they are doing, and as I’ve said a few times here, it’s almost impossible to get information, but if someone doesn’t want to leave a comment, you are also welcome to e-mail us at editor@westseattleblog.com, just so we can let people know how he/she/they are doing … thanks. TR