35 Replies to "You asked for it, you got it: Seattle Police out today on 'I-35'"

• Mags April 19, 2011 (4:25 pm)

  Yay! I knew something was going on today when I was driving down 35th and everyone was driving “nice” (ie. not tailgating me, cutting me off, weaving, switching lanes without signal etc). Then I spotted the cop with the speed gun and I realized why everyone was going 35. Hope they hang out there more often.

• coffee April 19, 2011 (4:30 pm)

  YES!!!!!!!!!!!
  Delridge next please!

• Recall McGinn April 19, 2011 (4:55 pm)

  Hopefully this will be an ongoing presence, they have spent enough time on Admiral Way and Highland Drive already.

  Hopefully they will write many tickets and raise some revenue for the city.

• jiggers April 19, 2011 (5:00 pm)

  You need a car with a powerful engine to catch speeders in a hurry. That would do.

• Yardvark April 19, 2011 (5:15 pm)

  Thank you, SPD!
  Would you mind allowing someone from SDOT to sit in back and observe?

• w.s. maverick April 19, 2011 (5:16 pm)

  more red light cameras would help too. I even watch buses go through red lights, thats just crazy

• austin April 19, 2011 (5:16 pm)

  How about you not all turn into complete sociopaths when getting behind the wheel and police interdiction won’t be necessary.

• Noelle April 19, 2011 (5:33 pm)

  Very good!
  Thank you WSB!

• (required) April 19, 2011 (5:39 pm)

  Great — but let’s not get distracted from what really needs to be done: cut down 35th from four lanes to two. As to the police presence, GREAT. And I hope all police come home safe — there isn’t lot of room to pull anyone over. If they ticket folks going 40mph or more, I applaud them. When the median speed of cars without police around is more than 40mph — which it is — it is time for “minor” offenders to pay the price rather than set the standard for dangerous driving in our neighborhood.

  I suggest the police park on the side streets that go to 35th. Particularly good ones: Cambridge (near Roxbury), Thistle, and Juneau. For starts.

  I thank the police for this, but still hope the city pays for the recent death of the motorcyclist. That was inexcusable. The city and all of us have long known of I-35th’s dangers — and nothing has changed. To many, I fear this added police presence will be called a “band-aid” — and it’s hard to argue that it’s not.

  Fix the problem: cut down 35th from four lanes to two, one in each direction.

• S April 19, 2011 (6:04 pm)

  I saw them out there today…Glad they were. Why everyone has to fly down 35th I don’t know. 35 is a pretty generous speed to go. Why do you need to go faster than that. Leave earlier if you are late… And @ (Required) HELL NO!!! do not change 35th from 4 to 2 lanes. That would just cause another problem.. congestion. Its already gotten worse since I moved into my apartment at the corner of 35th and Morgan in the 18 years I have lived here.. They FINALLY gave us a turn arrow on 35th.. NOW they need on on Morgan. It doesn’t need its lanes reduced.. it needs jerks who like to speed and not follow the LAW to be ticketed and fined. Maybe if they spend enough money on getting speeding tickets they will learn, or lose their license and have to take the bus.

• (required) April 19, 2011 (6:55 pm)

  @ S — No. Enough. The street is less than five miles long. You know that. You’re not that impatient that it will kill you to add five minutes to your trip all the way up or down 35th. But look at all the deaths we’ve seen on 35th because of left turners, stops, speed, etc. Keep it in perspective. You need to plan for an extra five minutes travel time, that’s all. There is no rational basis to have four lanes there. None. It is a high-density area lined with houses. Do you want blood on your hands and tax dollars to go to settling death suits? It will come out in court when the family of that motorcyclist presents evidence about how the city knew his death was forseeable. The city WILL pay. Again, and again, until the lanes are cut like they were on Fauntleroy. And you don’t see massive delays there now, do you? No. Only a safer road. Do you want police to waste time patrolling 35th just because stupid self-absorbed road rage filled drivers can’t behave? Again, “congestion” will occur from limiting lanes, but how many minutes can be added from that on a road that’s barely three miles long in all? Come on. Again, look at Fauntleroy’s change and the impact that’s had — nil. “Congestion” is no reason to ignore the facts — way too many deaths and accidents on a road that’s only a few short miles long surrounded by homes and left turns. And before you forget — POLICE HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO THAN PLAY BABYSITTER TO ROADRAGE FILLED SPEEDERS. It is time we see less dead pedestrians, drivers and bicyclists, and that means one thing: make 35th and Roxbury four lanes into two.

• WSB April 19, 2011 (7:45 pm)

  At the Crime Prevention Council now, story to come. Jim Curtin from SDOT has said that a road diet has long been under consideration for 35th but never definitely planned. It has almost too many vehicles for one to work. He says Juneau left-turns may be restricted. He also says California/Dakota – remember the concerns there after a dog was killed by a hit-run driver? – may get “rapid fire flashing beacons” as part of a pilot project, if a state grant is received by the city. More to come … TR

• 35this35mph April 19, 2011 (8:17 pm)

  Hell yes! ROAD DIET ON 35TH.

• M. April 19, 2011 (8:21 pm)

  Good to see the speed limit enforced, really hope stop sign and stop light runners are targeted. Please obey traffic laws.

• M April 19, 2011 (8:27 pm)

  People want to add a light at Juneau? Heading north on 35th, it is one block past Raymond, which has a light, and 3 blocks past Morgan, which has a light. How would 3 lights in 4 blocks, especially since they would most likely be timed, slow people down on all of 35th?

• JD April 19, 2011 (8:59 pm)

  As A West Seattle business person who makes part of my living by being able to make deliveries in West Seattle,( and a year round motorcyclist ) I agree…please do NOT reduce 35th to another 2 lane road. Delridge has gotten to the point we try to avoid it, as there can be 2-3 mile long backups, most especially during school bus hours. Having it as a two lane has also NOT stopped speeders, just forced them to use the center turn lane instead. Rather than spend immense amounts of money to make 35th two lanes, the city could spend MUCH less, and raise much needed dollars by having a dedicated speeding patrol/radar car AND putting a light at Juneau and 35th. Some of us do indeed need to use the streets of Seattle for our livelihood, and the more traffic flow is reduced, the harder that gets. I certainly agree that too many people speed on 35th, but they also still do it on Delridge and Fauntleroy. Better enforcement is the solution to that problem.

• Mat April 19, 2011 (9:34 pm)

  Just wanted to chime in and say cheers and good job to the West Seattle PD and thanks for getting out and trying to slow down some of these speeders. It really has gotten obscene and I’ve on a number of occasions seen people drive 50 and above, which is beyond absurd.

  I don’t pretend to know anything about traffic engineering, but I really hope they figure out some kind of solution for 35th that will make it safer.

• cool perry April 19, 2011 (9:38 pm)

  Reducing 35th to two lanes? LOL LOL LOL.

• VF April 19, 2011 (9:41 pm)

  21 tickets in one day! Not ok West Seattle! Slow down!

• gary April 19, 2011 (9:46 pm)

  Those cop Chargers look sweet.

• Brontosaurus April 19, 2011 (9:56 pm)

  Thank you SPD! 35th has needed this police prescence for a long time. The West Seattle Bridge after midnight is another area that could use monitoring (maybe cameras?) I get off work at 11:45pm and often share the bridge with crazy drivers. Two cars were racing from 99 south onto the Bridge the other day and almost crashed in the on ramp. Anorher lunatic was going about 100!

• sss April 19, 2011 (10:13 pm)

  I was wondering why everyone was actually going the speed limit. I wish they would do it more often.

  I live on 35th and it’s really annoying to see so many speeders and careless drivers. The speeding is even worse at night but I’ve never seen them do anything about it at night. I always try to stop by and thank the motorcycle police officers when I see then on our block.

  There is no reason to go over 35 mph on 35th.

• cj April 19, 2011 (11:18 pm)

  The speeding is bad but its not the only thing. I see people cutting each other off, surging across oncoming traffic and almost running over people trying to use crosswalks all the time. Just have one of the officers hang out near a major crosswalk. Will be sure to see some driver attitude.

• Testing HTML April 20, 2011 (5:50 am)

  I hope that SPD will continue to enforce traffic laws on 35th rather than change from 4 lanes to 2. In the late 1960’s you could depend on a speed trap on Fauntleroy every Wednesday. You could count on a ticket anywhere in town if you drove 10 over the limit. The road diets work and I personally like the speed limit display signs, but an occasional meet up with Officer Friendly is a great learning experience.

• Danny April 20, 2011 (8:14 am)

  Where are all these speeders? I rarely see anyone exceeding 40 on 35th. And Delridge? What time are you driving Delridge? I want to be on at that time so I’m not stuck behind people going 20 mph.

  I’m really glad though that the police are stopping all these violent criminals. This is where there focus should be, not on all those burglars and car prowlers.

• anonyme April 20, 2011 (8:17 am)

  Don’t forget that the speed limit on 35th south of Roxbury is 30mph, not 35. Many drivers actually accelerate once they pass Roxbury going southbound, as they’re under the impression that cops don’t go there. Unfortunately, they’re usually right. Please, please send the chargers our way.

• alywest April 20, 2011 (8:50 am)

  Is there or is there not a enforcement light on 35th about 4 blocks south of the Mount? I see the sign but have never seen the camera or a flash.

• Concerened April 20, 2011 (9:58 am)

  No enforcement light … once every blue moon (or 2) there is a van … but even with speeding people I’ve only see 1 flash!

• Tracy White April 20, 2011 (10:15 am)

  I’d say no road diet.. yes on left turn restrictions and more patrols.

• NotMe April 20, 2011 (10:18 am)

  It’s amazing how the two areas (Admiral and 35th) are so different in the comments. When SPD was enforcing the 30mph on Admiral – and catching quite a few – there was all sorts of nastiness in the comments. Now, SPD is enforcing the speed limit on 35th Ave, and everyone (almost) is supportive.
  .
  I am relieved that all of the West Seattle neighborhood is not as ‘ugly’ as my little section in Admiral. :-)

• Redbaron April 20, 2011 (7:05 pm)

  We all acknowledge 35th is a very unsafe place for cars and pedestrians. The high speeds on 35th are ridiculous at all hours. As a person who lives near 34th and Juneau, I have two streets that are dangerous at all times. That being 35th and 34th and Juneau. Many folks driving up the Juneau hill (westbound) from the High Point and Delridge areas often speed up the hill with no regard for what might be in the intersection at 34th. Juneau is not your personal road! The hill is too steep and has a limited sight problems so there is now way for the drivers to know whether that intersection is clear of people and/or cars. I walk my dogs every morning and cannot cross Juneau except at the crest of hill to make sure I will not be hit by some speeder coming up the hill. And even when they see me on the corner, they continue to speed up the hill with no regard for my presence or safety. In turn, there is limited sight when traveling eastbound on Juneau. A car cannot see down the hill until it reaches the crest of the hill either. There could be kids riding their bikes, or heaven forbid, someone coming out of the alley that could get T-boned by a speeder hurrying down the hill. Please slow down while coming up or down the hill and be respectful of the neighborhood and the folks who live there. It is sad we have to live in fear of being run down by some vehicle any time we are walking between 35th and 32nd on Juneau. I would love to see a LARGE traffic circle in the intersection of 34th and Juneau to slow all the speeding idiots down.

• anonymous April 21, 2011 (1:15 am)

  @Danny Don’t be an idiot!!! A man was killed on 35th last week…isn’t that “violent” enough for you?

• Cclarue April 21, 2011 (9:31 am)

  Thank you SPD!! Please visit 16th ave sw between Holden and the college. In the morning there are speeding cars all the time and it’s funny how when sscc is not in session the speeders volume is much lower there are still those few who blow thru I’m guessing as a back way to avoid delridge and all it’s lights to get to the bridge, but this is a 30 mph stretch and it seems like people think it’s 45.

• Cclarue April 21, 2011 (9:36 am)

  I should also add that 3 parked cars on 16th were hit within a week of eachother. Maybe the intoxicated are using 16th to avoid Delridge where the precinct is because there is a much higher chance to see police officers there near the precinct. ????

• Danny April 21, 2011 (2:01 pm)

  @ anonymous. The majority of traffic and accident studies show that speed is by percentage one of the lowest major factors in accidents. Last study I saw showed speed as the prime factor in less than 2% of car accidents.

  Driver inattentiveness is the leading cause of accidents, not excessive speed.

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