ROAD WORK ALERT: What’s ahead on the bumpiest section of 26th SW

Thanks to Richard for the tip. He and other nearby residents got an SDOT alert that you should know about too if you travel that section of 26th SW between Barton and Roxbury, just south of Westwood Village. He says that according to the notice, SDOT “will remove and repave severely damaged concrete panels … between SW Cambridge Street and SW Roxbury Street” Monday and Tuesday. Traffic will be down to one lane, with flaggers alternating between SB and NB traffic, and sidewalks remaining open. This comes two and a half months after the latest round of “investigation” on bus-beset pavement along that stretch.

John February 23, 2020 (3:47 pm)

This is really good news as that section of road has become treacherous! I wish SDOT would consider placing a turn arrow at the intersection of Roxbury and 26th. I’ve seen multiple accidents and near accidents there over the years. I’ve emailed SDOT about it and would encourage others to do the same.

Kyle February 23, 2020 (5:50 pm)

Hallelujah!

sam-c February 23, 2020 (6:27 pm)

Thank goodness!! it’s so bad. We’ll stay out of the way and find other routes. Turn arrows would be nice, John, as everyone who drives through the area knows. But, I imagine that would a take a few more years of SDOT investigation, research. design, and planning (even though it’s obvious to the people that use the intersection frequently).

Jon Wright February 23, 2020 (8:28 pm)

SDOT is very data driven. If an intersection has a track record of incidents, they will act. There are two problems with this, however. First, addressing a hazard after the fact means people and property have to suffer to get something done. And second, they have no way to capture all the close calls that typically come alone with a hazard so close calls do not get factored into the equation. I am grateful that they are data driven (because that means the truly dangerous spots will get addressed), but I think they need to be willing to look at more than “incidents reported at location” to assess risk.

MikeinSea February 23, 2020 (8:27 pm)

About time- now on to Roxbury and most other roads in the area. What they doing with the tax money?

Matt P February 23, 2020 (8:43 pm)

Are lot of the bumps are from developers cutting into the road. Why aren’t they obligated to repair the road back to the same condition?

WSB February 23, 2020 (8:49 pm)

(A) They are.
https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/SDOT/About/DocumentLibrary/ROWORR_Manual.pdf
(B) This is definitely not the problem on 26th – although as we’ve been reporting recently, some redevelopment is ahead.
- West Seattle Hipster February 24, 2020 (6:47 am)
  
  Interesting. If the builders are required to repair the road back to the same condition, who ensures that they are compliant? One of the reasons Delridge is such a mess is due to where new housing has been constructed, and sewer hookups were made. Asphalt was used instead of concrete and the road is in awful shape. I understand that Delridge is due for a repaving soon, but the contractors left the road in substandard condition.
  - KM February 24, 2020 (8:14 am)
    
    Definitely complain when they are patching the roadway incorrectly on Find It, Fix It. We had a section of Holden torn up from a new housing project and they finally put in a new concrete panel after some really crummy patching jobs were causing major trouble. I think they probably don’t have to put a permanent repair in until after they are fully done with the job, but I don’t know.
Blue collar February 24, 2020 (10:45 am)

They are responsible for any repairs on the utility cuts they have made, just don’t think they are being held accountable.

Bradley February 24, 2020 (1:36 am)

This constant degradation of these concrete panels was never a problem until the Rapid Ride hub was designated on Barton. Those Metro buses are just too heavy and too frequent for the design specs of those 26th S.W. panels. They were built to handle residential traffic of private cars and light commercial vehicles. These new panels will be tipped up again, just as the other recently replaced ones were, as long as heavy Metro buses cut through 26th from Roxbury to Barton.

AMD February 24, 2020 (1:17 pm)

When they replaced the last section, they made them thicker to handle the current usage of 26th. I see no reason to assume the same won’t happen again.

momosmom February 24, 2020 (7:51 am)

Roxbury is more than re-development problems it is just warn out from way too much traffic and botched up pot hole fixes. Just this morning I dodged a hole that looked new/old but was going to be a wheel damage in the makings soon, real soon!