New hope for a traffic signal at 47th and Admiral Way

(Admiral Neighborhood Association rally/tribute at 47th/Admiral in 2011)
The Admiral contingent trying to get a traffic signal at 47th SW and SW Admiral Way has just cleared a hurdle – the Southwest District Council has recommended their project “for further evaluation” as a potential Neighborhood Street Fund grant recipient. Admiral Neighborhood Association past president Katy Walum, who pitched the project to SWDC at its meeting this month (WSB coverage here), shared a letter from SDOT’s Therese Casper, excerpted here:

… Your proposal, and 38 others, will be investigated over the next several months to help determine whether it will be designed and built in this third of three NSF rounds under the current Bridging the Gap levy. I will be working with a consultant to develop a preliminary design and cost analysis during this period and it is possible I will contact you at some point to clarify questions or help define alternative approaches.

The results of our evaluations will be returned to you, and to the District Councils in June for ranking, after which the Bridging the Gap Oversight Committee will determine the overall ranking of projects across the city in July and August. Those projects ultimately selected will typically be designed in 2014 and built in 2015 (though some might be completed sooner). …

ANA and others have been working to get the intersection considered for a signal; crashes there have included City Council staffer Tatsuo Nakata being hit and killed by a driver while crossing there six years ago. As Walum told SWDC earlier this month, SDOT has said the signal could cost anywhere from $125,000 to $500,000, and while they have it on their list, 11 signals are ahead of it – unless something else accelerates funding, such as this grant program.

Meantime, we’re checking to see which of the other four projects pitched to SWDC are advancing.

7 Replies to "New hope for a traffic signal at 47th and Admiral Way"

  • wsea January 25, 2013 (4:13 pm)

    This is a must have. I’ve seen and also experienced a couple close calls trying to cross. Commuters and out of town alki visitors race up and down admiral and that is a blind curve when heading west.

  • Wendell January 25, 2013 (4:17 pm)

    $500,000? Geez, we should get a footbridge for that amount.

  • WSMama3 January 25, 2013 (4:48 pm)

    Great job to Katy & the ANA! That is great news!

  • Dano January 25, 2013 (6:45 pm)

    Half a million dollars??!!…. Seriously?!…. It better wash my car, give me flawless skin, AND get HBO for that price…..

  • Admiral Resident January 26, 2013 (12:22 am)

    That’s great news! Like @wsea said, that is something of a blind curve – especially for drivers unfamiliar with that stretch of road. With the number of kids who need to cross Admiral to walk to Lafayette and Madison, it makes a lot of sense to make it safer.

  • Mike January 26, 2013 (2:22 am)

    The caution lights don’t slow people down now, why does anyone think a stop light will stop them? The issue isn’t a light there, it’s that fact that nobody see’s it around a blind curve. They’d need to add additional lights further up to warn that the light will change colors so drivers will start slowing down before it’s too late.
    .
    A better and safer option is to move the crosswalk, then put the caution lights at the new crosswalk. Enforcing the speed limit would be helpful too. On Thursday night I stopped to allow a pedestrian cross there (multiple cars zipped by while he waited at the curb). The idiot behind me apparently didn’t see the ridiculously bright LED brake lights on my car, they nearly slammed into the back of me while I waited for the guy to walk across the crosswalk. That’s caution lights AND a stopped 3200lb car with super bright LED brake lights and the other driver still didn’t see why they’d need to stop there.

  • let them swim January 26, 2013 (8:42 am)

    What was the cost of the light on east side of Amiral Way,(by view point),and the cost of the newest light on Avalon and Genessee?

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