Video: Beach Drive, the repaved and the not-yet-repaved

| Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

City crews spent much of this week repaving part of the section of Beach Drive that has had enough pits and ruts to rattle you from scalp to sole, and shake up the inner workings of your car/truck/motorcycle/bicycle, too. So we drove it this evening to show you the transformation – of the actual repaired section, anyway. Our :43 clip starts with the non-repaired section beneath the slide-plagued slope that has sparked a court fight (with mediation ahead, the city says), and then you’ll see how it transitions to the repaved section, in the 6200 block and a bit further south. Didn’t have the tripod in the car, so we dubbed the result Bumpycam, but it’s an accurate representation – try for yourself. (“Before” photo in our original May 8th report.)

Kelly May 18, 2012 (10:53 pm)

LOVE the video–thank you! I’ll have to Water Taxi + bike home next week to try it out!

KD May 18, 2012 (11:45 pm)

Bump,bump,crunch,crunch……., then, ~~~~ ‘AAHHHHHHHHH!!!’

Petert May 19, 2012 (8:22 am)

I think they missed a spot at 0:34.

smokeycretin9 May 19, 2012 (8:46 am)

a mono-pod works wonders for filming in a moving vehicle.

I went thru there the other night on my motorcycle and thought I was going to die.

WSB May 19, 2012 (8:53 am)

We have one of those too. Just didn’t bring it … was kind of a spur of the moment thing … when I shot the Viaduct some months back, a dry washcloth actually worked wonders for holding our boxier video camera on the dashboard! But I had to plot that one because I was doing it by myself … last night, bumpycam and all, I was in the passenger seat … TR

VBD May 19, 2012 (11:08 am)

While it’s nice they paved the part they did, as a frequent cyclist I can assure you the worst part of that stretch of road is still a mess. Northbound of the repair, as the road descends has always been the worst for bikes. Not only does it narrow, there is little ditch, and a bumpy seam, that is often wet. Down the hill there are a couple of really awful potholes that are perfectly shaped to grab skinny bike tires. In addition, the hill adds speed to the bike, and necessitates using the breaks. A really bad combination. I hope they get to that part soon.