UPDATE: Hole repair on 35th SW; repaving still not planned until 2023

| Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

12:27 PM: Thanks for the tips – first police were out, and now SDOT is at the scene of a worse-than-usual pothole, rut, whatever you want to call it, on 35th SW north of SW Webster [map].

We have been working on a deeper look at the state of 35th SW, not just from firsthand observation, as we travel along it multiple times daily, but because of many reader inquiries. So stand by for the newest information on that; in the meantime, when there is an emergency hazard like this, call 206-684-ROAD (or 911). Pothole reports otherwise can be made (if you don’t use the Find It, Fix It app) via this web form, and you can check here to see if the one you’re reporting is already on the map.

ADDED 2:23 PM: The SDOT map for major paving projects still has 35th SW listed as 2023, confirms City Councilmember Lisa Herbold‘s office. (See it here.) But they have been hearing a lot about 35th SW too, says legislative assistant Newell Aldrich, and stressing that “it’s a dangerous situation, that we’ve had communications from constituents saying their cars were damaged by large potholes, and ask(ing) SDOT to re-consider the planned 2023 paving schedule and attend to this as soon as possible.” Councilmember Herbold is working on a formal request to SDOT direct Scott Kubly, Aldrich says. Meantime, we also asked SDOT directly if there are any spot paving projects – a block here, a block there, as has been done around West Seattle in recent years – scheduled for 35th this year.

ADDED 7:25 PM: SDOT spokesperson Sue Romero reiterated that 35th SW is not in the schedule until 2023 (same link as the one Councilmember Herbold’s staff pointed to, in the paragraph above):

The southern portion of 35th Ave SW, from SW Roxbury St to SW Morgan St, is included in SDOT’s nine-year AAC paving plan. SDOT continues pothole repairs and spot paving work to keep 35th serviceable until funds allow the reconstruction work to move forward scheduled for 2023.

Here’s an overview of how much paved road the city has, and how it evaluates pavement condition. Followups to come!

DK March 29, 2017 (12:52 pm)

It was called into Metro this morning. They’ve got a bit more pull. You’re welcome – the driver.

Swede. March 29, 2017 (2:06 pm)

587 for the win!

Keep up the good work.
H March 29, 2017 (7:29 pm)

Thank you!!! I drive a Smart car, which I love, but those pot holes are ridiculous for my car.

momosmom March 29, 2017 (12:57 pm)

Geez I wish they’d fix the 2 maybe 3 that is in the right hand lane eastbound Roxbury just past the what you are currently going speed limit sign! I try and stay in the “slow lane” because most people think they’re Speed Racer in the mornings going to work so it is very hard to dodge those potholes.

Roxbury March 29, 2017 (2:49 pm)

Except for a jog between 21st and 20th, the Seattle city limit between 35th and 4th Ave SW follows the centerline of SW Roxbury St, That means that King County is officially responsible for maintaining the south half (eastbound) of the roadway and Seattle the north half (westbound).

https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=5da4793235504865a80ba7ebf9011c4e#visualize

ktrapp March 29, 2017 (12:59 pm)

That section of 35th has gotten REALLY bad after the winter storms this year. You practically have to act like you’re doing a slalom to avoid all the potholes.

sam-c March 29, 2017 (1:53 pm)

Yeah, that whole area is pretty bad. Whenever I turn from westbound Holden to southbound 35th, the car bounces around like I’m off-roading or something.

wingme March 29, 2017 (1:08 pm)

I was hoping this was about Roxbury, going east nearly to 4th. Looks (and feels) like it’s been carpet bombed, especially from 26th eastward. Impossible to dodge them.

Chris M March 30, 2017 (8:00 am)

Roxbury will get new pavement before 35th, according to this map: http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/docs/AAC9yearPlanRevMay2016.pdf

Jack Sparra March 29, 2017 (1:42 pm)

Ya know, if we allocate that Boulevard cash somebody thinks matters between 35th and Trader Joes, we might fix much of the existing road issues on 35th….but then that’s smart use of our dwindling tax $s.

The Black Pearl can only take so much pounding.

sw March 29, 2017 (1:44 pm)

The sides of the street are also littered with loose rocks – which actually are the asphalt granules that used to be where holes are now. Lots of rocks flying about – so many that windshield replacement services should be handing out business cards at the red lights.

sw March 29, 2017 (1:47 pm)

Meanwhile in PDX…

Chris Stripinis March 29, 2017 (3:13 pm)

SW – That’s awesome!
Swede. March 29, 2017 (3:33 pm)

Nice!

Making it pretty at least.
Colette March 29, 2017 (3:39 pm)

I love this!
North of Admiral March 29, 2017 (3:43 pm)

HAHA That is absolutely hilarious.
Pauline Aldrich March 30, 2017 (8:26 am)

gave me a good laugh this morning
- sam-c March 30, 2017 (9:33 am)
  
  LOVE IT! Can we do that here? It would make the potholes easier to see (and avoid). To reiterate the obvious, you can’t see the potholes around here when it’s dark and they are all filled with water….You don’t know you’ve hit them til you’ve already knocked your fillings out.

Pete March 29, 2017 (1:55 pm)

They need to do complete rebuild of Delridge Way SW. The repairs of the repairs of the repairs of the initial repairs are failing again and again and again.

Duff R-B March 29, 2017 (1:55 pm)

As to making repairs, is there any recourse if you dented a rim of a wheel on your car and now have a chronic air leak? Will the city or county pay fro repairing or replacing the wheel?

PSPS March 29, 2017 (2:45 pm)

Yes, the city is liable and will pay for damage done to your car.
KM March 29, 2017 (3:22 pm)

I have this issue as well, and I don’t have a commute or drive as much as many. I guess there has to be proof that an area that had been reported to the city caused the damage, and I have no idea how I could prove it? If I could, they would also owe me for an out-of-the-ordinary alignment job & new tires on my old vehicle likely caused by the exact location that Sam-C mentioned above. I didn’t have these issues living in other cities in WA and elsewhere in the US, seems to be Seattle-road specific, and worse now that I use 35th as my main corridor.

Stuck between Gatewood and Fauntleroy March 29, 2017 (1:59 pm)

It takes some serious off road skill to drive down 35th. Seattle has always been bad for potholes, but 35th is on a-whole-nother level.

Sho'nuff March 29, 2017 (2:00 pm)

Wow, they are fixing one pothole! I wonder when they will get to the other 999 potholes around West Seattle.

56bricks March 29, 2017 (2:14 pm)

Fill ’em in with rainbows!

Cherable March 29, 2017 (2:14 pm)

35th is loaded with holes – looks like they jackhammered the old lines out when they reconfigured the lanes. Driving from Holden to Morgan is an obstical course. Hope this means they will fix the rest of the holes.

Rockergirl March 29, 2017 (2:16 pm)

When they instigated the road diet they were supposed to “repave” this section on 35th weren’t they? Its terrible and a real accident waiting to happen.

KM March 29, 2017 (3:24 pm)

IIRC, I think only part of it (closer to Roxbury), because they didn’t have the current budget to repave the whole thing until years later? I might be mixing that up with finishing the road diet, but I do remember the entire project completion being pieced out at least a few years apart.

HC March 29, 2017 (2:16 pm)

We should have demanded that the roads be repaired before the road diets were put in place. What a mess! And with more and more people moving into West Seattle and very little infrastructure improvements . . . :-(

Jimmie C March 29, 2017 (2:30 pm)

Quite frankly, with the roads as bad as they are in West Seattle, I am surprised I am not hearing more about accidents due to the distraction of dodging the massive holes in the roads. It is concerning the amount of concentration it takes in some areas (especially when it is dark out!) to keep from hitting the potholes.

Andros. March 30, 2017 (7:20 am)

My brand new GTI was rear ended on 35th and Trenton last week. It’s happening.

56bricks March 29, 2017 (2:40 pm)

Fill them in with crushed Pronto bikes. Kubly could still collect $$$.

Swede. March 29, 2017 (3:35 pm)

Now that’s funny!

Trickycoolj March 29, 2017 (2:44 pm)

Sylvan from the cemetery to Home Depot is also a gnarly mess. Saw 3 pothole ranger trucks on saturday afternoon by the cemetery but they apparently ignored the 20+ potholes on the rest of the street as they drove to the one that was actually reported. Noticed traffic counter tubes showed up in the same place. How much data do they need to actually fix s*** around here? The ski area parking lots at Snoqualmie are better condition than anything South or East of 35th and Morgan.

J P March 29, 2017 (3:06 pm)

Do what Wanksy did in his city, gets them fixed real fast.

Jason V. March 29, 2017 (3:10 pm)

Glad this is being addressed! These potholes are most definitely becoming a safety hazard.

WS Taxpayer March 29, 2017 (3:21 pm)

Cheers to the person that recommended that, instead of spending MILLIONS of dollars on a road/bike/pedestrian beauty contest, why don’t we spend the money on basic infrastructure projects like maintaining safe roadways! Resist politicians wasting our tax dollars! We have electronic signs over a highway that is in bad shape (I5), we spend money on boulevard projects when the roads around them are crumbling, we put roads on diets while they eat themselves alive…

Jason March 29, 2017 (3:34 pm)

This is what happens when you slap some new paint on the road but don’t bother to think about redoing the roadbed because you’re now putting twice as much traffic in a single lane. The new tire tracks are offset from where they were for decades past so you don’t even get the benefit of past roadway compaction. SDOT is truly run by idiots.

Andros. March 30, 2017 (7:21 am)

This right here. It’s exactly the reason
M March 31, 2017 (8:33 am)

And, the city eliminated busses pulling off to the side with the rapid ride lines, further increasing the use and start-stop wear and tear on the single lanes. I was on Stone Way in Wallingford this week. There are now signs in the two-way turn lane preventing cars from making left hand turns except from the already over-burdened single lane.

Also, regarding Delridge, has anyone travelled on 25th Avenue SW (South of SW Alaska St) lately? The additional traffic that is avoiding back-ups on Delridge during rush hour, as well as Southwest Plumbing trucks makes the street look as bad as some of the worst unpaved alleys in Seattle.

TheKing March 29, 2017 (3:57 pm)

This is a problem of the middle class so don’t expect it to be addressed. These new politicians seem to despise the middle class because we don’t need to wait for them to save us. The mayor knew rapid deterioration would happen with road diets as far as I’m concerned, this is all intentional to try and get us all to walk to work. I’ll drive down the middle if I have to.

LetsgoMets March 29, 2017 (4:14 pm)

The road was falling apart before the road diet was completed, but somehow SDOT just thought it was best to leave as is.

Epic failure Kulby

Bp March 29, 2017 (4:17 pm)

Delridge is riddled with pot holes. People swerve out of the way to avoid them which is also dangerous because people might be in the bike lane. Its almost hard to report all the potholes on the site because there are so many and its more than difficult to drive and remember the intersections.

Nitro March 29, 2017 (4:29 pm)

Wow- 2023 before re-paving of 35th? It will be the Grand Canyon by then!! I feel like I’m in a video game trying to dodge the craters as it is right now! Thanks for asking more questions, WSB. You are such an asset to our community.

Breezy March 29, 2017 (6:04 pm)

This was my thought as well! 6 more years before re-paving?! There won’t be any road left…! Or I won’t have any wheels left. My poor car has really taken a beating the last few weeks.

Sunuva March 29, 2017 (4:39 pm)

I grew up in NW Montana in the 90’s, where we had snow on the ground 7-8 months out of the year, everyone had studded tires, we had a very small tax base, and most of our roads were oiled gravel. Potholes were such a part of everyday life that in high-school I played in a rock band called Pothole, and it made sense. However, at least those roads were graded and re-oiled each spring! At least we knew what we had to deal with and DID SOMETHING about it proactively!

Our roads here are a disgrace. It is a danger, but also a solvable problem. Having a squad of pothole rangers going around fixing one hole at a time is the definition of whack-a-mole. It is embarrassing, and with all the money people in this city are making, it is a complete disgrace that we have to drive on roads like this and our city has such an ineffective plan for dealing with it. What good is your Tesla Model S if you have to drive it like it’s a Jeep and bust your rims up just taking your kid to school? SDOT, and this city, need to get their act together and fix our roads without any more delay! I used to be proud to show visitors around my city and now I would rather not.

dkm March 29, 2017 (10:14 pm)

Absolutely, embarrassing to have visitors to our city with the roads and All. This hole actually is about 4 feet deep. SDOT threw some make shift pieces of this and that to cover it. Once a month they come through with their truck and half a dozen men, throw some rocks down, oh and by the way, stop in the middle of the road so they block all the traffic. Then usually one man has a tool that is flat on the end and pound the rocks flat in a hole. Then all the rocks come out making the mess we have. There really is way too much constant traffic! We need our two lanes each way back! Please!

rico March 29, 2017 (5:02 pm)

Not that I agreed with Mayor Mike Mcginn on much, but of all the past Mayor’s I can remember, the streets were in the best condition under his leadership than other administrations. The bent rims on my car miss Mcginn.

flimflam March 29, 2017 (5:42 pm)

the city clearly has its priorities regarding what is worth spending on.

Luna March 29, 2017 (5:47 pm)

I’m confused by the statement, “when there is an emergency hazard like this.” I’m familiar with the poor condition of 35th and don’t know what makes that an emergency hazard, especially compared to the rest of WS. I agree that Delridge is in awful condition. Am I the only one that’s seen the near sink hole at the bus stop of Delridge & Juneau (south side). Not to mention Delridge leading up to the WS bridge. So is Beach Drive, especially by 60th. There’s a long list along along WS.

Josh March 29, 2017 (6:02 pm)

And meanwhile, the NEW concrete pavement panels on Barton, and on 26th aren’t full of potholes but sinking (again) due to the weight of all the busses. Another horribly planned project, nothing done with regard to the big picture.

Like painting 35th with no repairs.

So frustrating! The poor get help, the big companies get tax breaks, and the middle class just struggles on…

Chris Stripinis March 29, 2017 (9:48 pm)

Josh – I’ve been working with SDOT and Metro for a few years on the bus damage to the pavement around Westwood Village. If you want, shoot me an email about what you’ve observed on the new panels on 26th Ave. See https://westwoodbus.wordpress.com/ for more details and my contact info.
West Seattle since 1979 March 30, 2017 (1:19 am)

Everyone has to use the roads, even the poor.

D DelRio March 29, 2017 (6:23 pm)

Didn’t we pass a levy to address this issue not too far back? I voted no for it because I knew that it would not go to basic road maintenance issues like repaving. I have lived here for all my fifty years, and this is the worst I’ve ever seen our roads. Even friends and family who visit from the suburbs surrounding Seattle are shocked at the condition of our falling apart roads. Unfortunately, I don’t see this changing anytime soon, because the same type of people keep getting voted into the mayor and city council positions.

dkm March 30, 2017 (9:37 am)

Yes, that is right, this city continues to reelect the kind of politician time and time again. It won’t change until we change how we vote. Could we please get some balance.

Razorking March 29, 2017 (6:51 pm)

Roxbury is a joke along with 35th. And it is obvious that nothing is going to be done about it anytime soon. We might as well all get horses because it looks like it is going back to dirt trails before it ever gets fixed.

Joan March 29, 2017 (6:51 pm)

Glad I’m not the only one who swerves and dodges, and goes from the right side of the lane to the left while driving on 35th. My alt plan is to go down side streets, even if it means going slower and going around those intersection circles! I seriously hope they move up the paving schedule.

Old Friend March 29, 2017 (7:19 pm)

Thank You WSB for doing such a great job covering this and other neighborhood items that need attention!! This seems to be the only way to get the City to address… kinda sad

New Thinking Needed March 29, 2017 (9:30 pm)

The increased bus service is chewing up the roads. Maybe add .25 per bus ride to fund road repairs?

West Seattle since 1979 March 30, 2017 (1:40 am)

What about large trucks?
- Chris Stripinis March 30, 2017 (9:02 am)
  
  While heavy, trucks don’t do as much damage as buses. The trucks usually have dual axles to distribute the load weight more. Transit buses always have single axles which have much higher point loads, causing more damage. Take a look next time you see a garbage truck or a Metro bus and you’ll see what I mean.

Brad March 30, 2017 (12:43 pm)

Let’s think about 35th. First they put it on a road diet. Now we have twice as many cars rolling over the same pavement. It was bad before but is unacceptable now. Putting patches over old patches is not the answer. SDOT’s actions have accelerated the wear on 35th. Who thinks that it can wait till 2023 to be repaved? Maybe we could wait on a couple of bike lanes and get our road fixed.

Mo March 30, 2017 (2:27 pm)

I wonder if anything short of a class action will get the city to listen to the safety concerns and priorities of WS citizens who have to drive that obstacle course. They are about to spend $17 million to “beautify” two blocks of Fauntleroy into a boulevard that is intended to “calm traffic” but they can’t find the funds to repair the holes that are safety hazards until 2023! Really?

zark00 March 30, 2017 (3:12 pm)

We went to the Camp Long Outdoor thing on March 5th – on our walk home we saw water pouring out of a crack in 35th – in two places. Literally water bubbling up and out of the middle of the road.

Ok fine, maybe a broken main or something. But they just let it sit there and sit there doing nothing about it – and now there’s 3-4 new potholes right around the area. I’m assuming it’s connected.

Its insane how bad Murray and crew have let the roads get – I voted for him and really regret it now. The tunnel, Kulby the crook, Pronto, the roads, the garbage, I think Murray may possibly be the worst mayor this city has seen in decades. Maybe there’s been worse, but right now I’m really not feeling like this city is well managed at all.

West Seattle Hipster March 30, 2017 (4:20 pm)

I couldn’t agree more. It would be nice to see an investigation as to where our money is being spent. Taxes have been raised to fund pet projects that benefit a few and numerous new positions have been created in city government, but the city appears to be falling apart.

Murray is very similar to Trump in that they both know how to appeal to their voters, but end up screwing them over instead of helping them.

And I thought McGinn was bad.

Cherable March 30, 2017 (3:22 pm)

35th is a safety hazard — I drive it every day and I am not watching where I’m going most of the time – I am watching the pavement so as not to hit a hole. There have been a number of accidents near the Holden & Findley intersections and I’ll bet they were caused by drivers watching the holes, not the road. Does anyone know a way and/or a higher authority to petition for repaving NOW??? Maybe state or federal?

Sue H March 31, 2017 (9:07 am)

Yes, THIS! I spend more time paying attention to not hitting a hole and damaging my car that my attention is definitely being distracted. I’m grateful it’s not my regular route.

dcn March 30, 2017 (8:48 pm)

I drive both 35th and Delridge quite frequently, and I think the northernmost mile of Delridge is worse than anything on 35th, despite that major hole pictured in this story. Yet Delridge isn’t on the map for repaving at all between now and 2024. And, they are planning to remove the center turn lane from most of Delridge so they can make it into a boulevard as part of their multi-modal master plan. In another WSB story, it was mentioned that they are not guaranteeing repaving as part of the multi-modal, boulevard-beautifying project.

The center turn lane is the only place to dodge the holes, unless you want to hug the far right side of the driving lane, which is too close to parked cars and/or the bike lane for my comfort. The seam between pavement sections is right where driver’s side tires should be, and so pot holes constantly form in this area. It’s really hard for me to understand why they’d spend so much money to remove the center turn lane instead of making the road navigable and safe.

BigGuy55 March 30, 2017 (10:10 pm)

We need a new mayor who actually cares about West Seattle. Also clear the homeless camps now!

FedUp March 31, 2017 (6:53 am)

We pay 2 billion dollars in gas tax per year. (It just went up 7 cents a gallon) Our gas tax is the second highest in the country! ( 70 cents per gallon) Thirty percent of that 2 billion is budgeted for road maintenance. This equals 600 million dollars. Yet, they always complain that money is not enough. Where is this money going? Does anyone know where can we find audited financial statements on the SDOT website? We should ask SDOT to publish an audit of their expenditures in a full page ad in the Seattle Times. The medians are overgrown, there is trash and SDOT road project debris left on the side of the roads for years. The roads are like a third world country. They are always closing major thoroughfares, road diets, it’s a public relations disaster. (Bridgegate) Where is the mayor, where is the media, why the incompetence?

Mr. B March 31, 2017 (7:37 am)

The Mayor just allocated one million dollars for a legal defence fund for illegal aliens. That’s why our roads are not getting repaved. Just saying.

Sue H March 31, 2017 (9:10 am)

There is no way that this can wait another year, let alone 6 more years. Thankfully it’s not my regular route, but I dread when I have to drive on 35th. And once a month I have an appointment in White Center where I take Sylvan to Delridge, and then come back Roxbury to 35th, and it’s just horrific.

It’s distracting as a driver when you’re paying more attention to the road conditions than to the traffic around you. I was actually thinking of buying a new car, but between the car tab mess and the road conditions, I’ll just continue to drive my energy inefficient 2001 car until I have no other choice.

sam-c March 31, 2017 (9:54 am)

Can someone help them figure out a better way to ‘fix’ their potholes? I reported one today, and then checked the location on the map. At this particular location, pothole(s) have been ‘repaired’ on 1/23, 1/24, 1/26, 2/18, 2/28, 3/8, 3/16 and 3/23. That’s 8 ineffective repairs in two month’s time. And the pothole’s still there, and still causing ‘almost accidents’ by people swerving around it (and almost hitting me head on).

zark00 March 31, 2017 (10:32 am)

This is the damage claim for for Seattle – http://www.seattle.gov/filing-a-damage-claim

On the same page is a link to the State Tort claim form.

Use one or the other – Seattle pays out much more frequently than the state.

If we all fill these out every time any damage occurs due to potholes, or poor road conditions in general, it would be at least one way to send a very clear message that the city and/or state are negligent in their duties.

You will get paid if the city determines it was negligent. That can be as simple as one complaint coming in before yours. For example, if I fill this out today for a claim for my bent rim and specify a pothole at 35th and Brandon, Southbound, West lane. They might be able to say – ‘thanks for the notice, we didn’t know, so we aren’t negligent.’ – but when you file your claim tomorrow for damage to your rim from the exact same pothole the previous report proves they knew, didn’t fix it, and were therefore negligent.

May seem like a waste of time, but one article said that while the state only pays out about 12% of the time, City of Seattle pays out 56% of the time.

My only other thought was, like the decorating of potholes etc., we should name each one after a city official, and start a twitter account for the pothole to continually tweet it’s status – how big it’s growing, how many cars it ate today, how it feels about global warming and other going geopolitical concerns.

Erin98126 March 31, 2017 (11:07 am)

Avalon is scheduled to be repaved in 2019 but 35th isn’t scheduled until 2023?! I drive both and 35th is in much worse condition. Maybe they should reassess which roads are repaired based on the streets’ current conditions…

anonyme March 31, 2017 (5:26 pm)

Agree with Sam-C. Pothole repairs are a joke. You could send some kids out with buckets of gravel and accomplish more – and for lots, lots less money.

sam-c April 7, 2017 (4:32 pm)

so, speaking of the road conditions, I just checked the pothole ranger map. Funnily enough, the GIANT pothole at 5657 Delridge Ave SW is not on there. Is there another map for major pavement repairs? there’s like a 8′ x 10′ pothole, rectangular, right in front of the bus stop. more like a sinkhole. I noticed it a couple days ago. Just now getting to report it.

Sorry, comment time is over.