Stalled speed bumps revived, West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force told. (UPDATE – where and when)

| Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

ORIGINAL THURSDAY NIGHT REPORT: The full report on tonight’s West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force meeting is yet to come – late tonight or tomorrow – but one note was worth breaking out, lest it get lost amid the bridge updates: Sara Zora from the Reconnect West Seattle program said the Fire Department has signed off on some speed bumps that were on hold because of emergency-response concerns. So they’ll go ahead with the installation at spots on 106th, 18th, 45th, Cloverdale, and Marine View Drive. Specific locations weren’t recapped; we’ll be following up on that tomorrow.

ADDED FRIDAY AFTERNOON: SDOT’s response to our followup inquiry:

Speed cushions are anticipated to be installed in March in the following five locations:

– (1) SW 106th St between 35th and 41st Ave SW

– (1) 18th Ave SW between SW Myrtle and Graham St

– (3) 45th Ave SW between SW Trenton St and SW Director St

– (1) SW Cloverdale St between 11th Ave SW and 12th Ave SW

– (2) Marine View Dr between 44th Ave SW and SW 106th St

This is eight speed cushions in total.

Wseattleite February 10, 2022 (10:12 pm)

sDOT, please just fix the bridge. Quit trying to tie all this nonsense into bridge fixing. You are very confused.

K February 11, 2022 (6:56 am)

$43 million, almost 25% of the bridge repair cost is slotted to the Reconnect West Seattle project. Almost all of it seems to be on projects to slow traffic for those of us who have to drive miles out of out way in horrible traffic.Fix the damm bridge and I won’t take 106th S to get from Morgan’s Junction to Greenwood.
Hen February 11, 2022 (8:15 am)

These are different areas with different budgets and can proceed at the same time… but both need concrete!!
- Wseattleite February 11, 2022 (10:13 am)
  
  Completely agree. So why is this the biggest news offered to the West Seattle Bridge Community Task Force? SDOT Distraction and Deflection, and a complete inability to focus on directed and important tasks. The Bridge out of commission was rightfully declared an Emergency at first. It has been treated as anything but.
  - WSB February 11, 2022 (4:40 pm)
    
    This was not the “biggest news offered to the WSBCTF” – it’s something I chose to break out because it was (a) new and (b) likely to get buried in the roundup otherwise. Time-wise, it was a small part of the meeting.
    
    Meantime, just got the specifics and added them above.
    - Wseattleite February 11, 2022 (5:31 pm)
      
      WSB, thank you for the clarification, my framing of the context was clearly incorrect.

1994 February 10, 2022 (10:37 pm)

Some repaving is really needed before adding speed bumps! Come on SDOT! Marine View Drive is in really poor shape between 104 and 106. Well, maybe if they forget the speed humps and leave the pavement as it is, that will by itself slow traffic down…. because once those asphalt chunks start to ‘fly’ out of place the road will be down to dirt. Hoping the new SDOT director to be hired will bring some fresh ideas to road maintenance!! and moving traffic.

Jim February 11, 2022 (4:53 am)

One of the worst roads I’ve seen is 61st off of Beach drive They put speed bumps in but the road is in such pork condition there’s four to six inch wide divot/gaps in the road with grass growing in them.
Um February 11, 2022 (9:12 am)

1994, I don’t think sdot covers that area. Try again
- WSB February 12, 2022 (1:35 pm)
  
  Yes, MVD is a city road in that area. There is a stretch further south – not connected – that’s outside the city limits.
snowskier February 12, 2022 (3:39 pm)

The intersection of 106th and 35th, just down from the upcoming speed bumps, is also in horrible condition. It sure hasn’t gotten better with the vast increase in traffic due the detour caused by SDOT breaking the bridge. It hasn’t received any attention from SDOT either, just been left to decay on its own.

John Smith February 11, 2022 (6:58 am)

Speed bumps should go on residential streets, not arterials.

Alki resident February 11, 2022 (7:17 am)

It’s extremely irresponsible to add bumps to marine view drive. Motorcycles uses that route daily and it could add to injuries or death. Leave that road alone.

Reed February 11, 2022 (9:34 am)

Ride defensive and cautiously, problem solved.
shotinthefoot February 11, 2022 (9:46 am)

Have to agree with you here. Not only motorcyclists but bicyclists as well. This is not the street to do this on. I wasn’t aware there was such an issue with people speeding on this road, and I drive it daily.
- reed February 11, 2022 (11:15 am)
  
  I ride a motorcycle and bicycle frequently; this is totally bogus and a non-issue for anyone riding in control.

Mike February 11, 2022 (8:05 am)

If speed bumps are installed, make them tall enough to have the intended impact of slowing traffic down to the posted speed limit. We live on 48th at the bottom of Erskine. The lame “speed” bumps here are very gentle and have no impact on speeding cars. It is very common to see vehicles moving at twice the posted 25 MPH signs. Reading this you might think this is purely a safety issue. It isn’t. It’s also a noise issue. Cars moving that fast are far nosier than when they do the limit. It sounds like having I-5 in your front yard.

Rick February 11, 2022 (8:59 am)

Aren’t potholes actually speed bumps in reverse? Just sneakier. And tire damaging/crash causing in disguise. But they’re free. Sort of.

Oh ya February 11, 2022 (9:36 am)

The speed bumps they put on 20th ave sw and along Sw Holden have done nothing but speed the traffic up.

Alex February 11, 2022 (9:39 am)

This is so frustrating. The more difficult the arterials are to maneuver just means the cars use the residential streets instead. Getting SDOT to do anything on a residential street is just laughable.

bill February 11, 2022 (9:54 am)

The speed limit scofflaws are self-identifying in this thread.

KD February 11, 2022 (9:56 am)

Will all the horrible speed bumps ruining nearly every street in Highland Park be removed once the bridge is re-opened? Yeah…right. Between the “safe streets” nonsense and the speed bumps, the people that actually live in the neighborhood can’t get around in it! SDOT sucks.

Emma-Lou February 11, 2022 (10:05 am)

More speed bumps equals more car exhaust. Not sure that a slightly lower speed is worth that extra bad air every time every car has to speed back up after hitting one of these. If I lived by the college I’d be really irritated at the frequency of these given the fact that they barely slow traffic on a huge road that’s easily visible and crossable. Such a waste of money, but then that’s the SDOT for ya. Fix the pot holes by actually paving!

BlairJ February 12, 2022 (9:01 am)

if you just go the speed limit over the speed bumps you don’t have to speed up or slow down. I do that all the time in Highand Park, and the suspensions on our cars are just fine. We live on an arterial with speed bumps, and it seems to me that the average speed has gone down. Trying to drive the speed limit on those streets, I am more likely to be behind traffic going under the limit than over it.