FOLLOWUP: Alki Avenue speed humps installed

After years of community requests for them, speed humps have just been installed on Alki Avenue SW. This set is in between 57th and 58th; the other set is being put in right now just east of 63rd. We noted on Friday that SDOT planned the installation for this weekend (along with a long list of other work, mostly in preparation for the West Seattle Bridge’s expected reopening one week from today); outlines for the speed-hump locations appeared a little over a week ago.

33 Replies to "FOLLOWUP: Alki Avenue speed humps installed"

  • Balderdash September 11, 2022 (1:19 pm)

    Interesting. Certainly has to be a positive move

  • Pete September 11, 2022 (2:23 pm)

    They are the dinky ones though, they’ll just speed right over those

    • KD September 11, 2022 (4:43 pm)

      ‘dinky’ … that little word description just cracks me up! 😆

    • vibrant.savior_02@icloud.com September 11, 2022 (5:40 pm)

      Agreed – cars can easily sail over those without much deceleration. And motorcycles can effortlessly avoid them altogether. Better than nothing, but could be so much more effective. 

  • vibrant.savior_02@icloud.com September 11, 2022 (2:26 pm)

    On Alki Ave the set of new speed bumps just east of 63rd (near Cactus) are very close to a full stop intersection (Alki Ave & 63rd). I wonder what is the logic of having speed bumps so close to a location where all vehicles were just at a full stop – or they’re about to stop due to a nearby “Stop” sign. Isn’t conventional wisdom to place speed bumps where vehicles are traveling at a high rate of speed? Am I missing something? 

  • Lucy September 11, 2022 (3:18 pm)

    Thank you!   More please.  

  • Bananamouse September 11, 2022 (3:51 pm)

    That’s BS put money into the drug problem not speed limit control, I’ll still fly over those, that’s not stopping a single person

    • Katia September 11, 2022 (9:43 pm)

      Thank you for contributing to nothing! I still have hope that some drivers value life and are careful and respectful to pedestrians and kiddos, and to anybody who needs to cross a street and not get hit by a total jerk who flies by!  Don’t take a precious life and ruin it for others because yours is a piece of s&@t. Grow up… 

    • Alki Jack September 11, 2022 (9:46 pm)

      “You’ll just fly right over those”! How immature, are you a 16 yr old? Does that kind of talk make you feel successful and important. One who is making a lot of noise, being an absolute nuisance and putting others in harms way with your reckless driving, you should be jailed for a long time until you grow up.

    • April September 12, 2022 (11:08 am)

      Agree!

  • S September 11, 2022 (4:49 pm)

    Those are the kind you don’t have to slow down for. Disappointing.

  • Alki resident September 11, 2022 (7:35 pm)

    Being this is a site seeing street, I’m disappointed to see this as there’s a lot of low riding cars that like to drive down the strip. As for above comment… not sure why motorcycles need speed bumps. A waste of money all in all, but that’s Seattle.

    • Jay September 11, 2022 (8:11 pm)

      Hooning is a huge problem on Alki. Burnouts, donuts, and racing is kind of out of control. If anything the bumps should be full width and higher so the Fast and Furious wannabes can’t even drive down this street.

      • lb September 13, 2022 (7:37 am)

        So you think it’s okay to block a whole group of people from a public street? hmm seems kinda pre 1964 to me 🤔 i mean it’s all about acceptance and inclusion now right? seems like you’re kinda doing the opposite. i get people don’t need to be speeding down there one bit but you can’t just block a whole group of people that’s just not right. 

  • Adam September 11, 2022 (9:18 pm)

    You can almost never get anywhere to even the posted speed limits in those spots when it’s busy. How does this stop the 1 mile of open road leading up to this, the part where all the noise is made and smoke comes up from burning off their tires? Crazy. My neighborhood has this same problem directly in front of a park and 2 schools, and we’ve all been told we cannot get speed humps b/c a) “it’s a snow route” or b) “it’s an emergency route we need free for fire trucks”. Neither of those make much sense to me, nor do I feel I’m actually getting answers as to how decisions are made. Clearly though for Alki Ave the decision was that we’re all stupid and easy to placate with ineffective but easy-to-see changes. 

  • M September 11, 2022 (11:20 pm)

    Now we just need them installed spots in that stretch between Alaska St and Fauntleroy all the way to Morgan Junction Fauntleroy. 

  • marcus September 12, 2022 (6:23 am)

    How about speed cameras??  Or stings?  There are probably just a small number of these harassing idiots, why not just catch them, issue reckless driving tickets, impound the cars, book the driver into jail for the night.  So many different methods to stop these guys.

    • vibrant.savior_02@icloud.com September 12, 2022 (11:58 am)

      Agreed. It feels as if there’s little or no law enforcement happening. Even simply issuing basic traffic tickets would be a deterrent.

  • Runner September 12, 2022 (6:47 am)

    Could someone from the city government please explain how these speed bumps at these two locations are supposed to help with the speeding cars and motorcycles on Alki Avenue?  I appreciate the effort but don’t see the benefit in those locations. Maybe these are just the start?

  • Em September 12, 2022 (8:28 am)

     Well,it’s a start.Now how about the other end of Alki at Harbor Ave.?You know,the beginning of the death defying stock car race track and noise magnifying spot?There are many tourists,commuters and residents trying to cross the street.We need help,too.Please just a few large bumps to slow things down.

  • Kyle September 12, 2022 (8:28 am)

    These are great. Yes, if you are going 25mph you don’t have to slow down much. But this will stop the people gunning through and flying at 50mph. You just physically can’t do that anymore.

    • Bill September 13, 2022 (4:07 am)

      Not with that attitude…

  • Rhonda September 12, 2022 (1:22 pm)

    The bumps are ridiculous. They punish 99.9% of drivers for the .01% of the speeding idiots who will zip around these, anyway. They will prematurely wear out the suspensions of Alki and Beach Drive residents who must go over these several times a day for years. The young speeders who live with their parents rent-free buy new cars or motorcycles every couple of years. A very large percentage of speeders of all ages have lifted trucks and SUVs that make such humps feel like pebbles. Speeding motorcyclists will use these for high-speed slalom practice. What’s needed are unmarked SPD traffic units strategically stationed to nab the scofflaws for speeding and/or reckless driving. They’ve had heavy traffic stings on Admiral Way for decades where there are very few pedestrians but not at Alki where pedestrians outnumber vehicles several months a year. 

  • WS Resident September 12, 2022 (3:06 pm)

    Rhonda, these little speed non-bumps won’t do anything to anyone’s suspension. These don’t do squat to slow anyone down. The one right before a stop sign (with a traffic calming island) is really worthless. There should be more, bigger, and full width. And yes, police presence would be even better. 

    • Rhonda September 12, 2022 (6:58 pm)

      The service manager at Honda of Seattle would highly disagree with you about these speed humps not causing suspension damage when driven over several times a day.

  • Runner September 12, 2022 (4:13 pm)

    Unmarked police cars giving out tickets would be the best.  

  • Confused September 12, 2022 (11:46 pm)

    Umm y’all just gonna point out the modded lower cars yet not recognize those who are just trying to enjoy alki in their nicer exotic car. Ferraris and mclarens are naturally low, lower then plenty of modded cars and a scratch on one of those means taxing the city to get compensated for damages or keeping those people away even though they could greatly help out the businesses down there. Also to all calling for speed bumps put everywhere 1. How much of a safety issue do you think that’d be when you need a ambulance to take you to the ER and the whole time you’re bouncing your way there until you hit the freeway?? 2. Let’s be honest your the first ones complaining about how much they inconvenience you as well if we’re being honest. But y’all don’t wanna talk about that 

  • Alki September 14, 2022 (9:52 am)

    Loads of lowered race cars tear through that intersection summer nights, this will at least help with those cars, nuisance for everyone else though

  • Del September 14, 2022 (1:01 pm)

    Yay! Now if we can get the city to install them near all the schools and daycares that would help out just as much!

  • Robert J Schmidt September 14, 2022 (3:36 pm)

    Just another example of punishing the innocent rather than enforcing the laws against the irresponsible law breakers.

  • Fred Chode September 16, 2022 (6:05 am)

    Best news I’ve heard all summer on here. Clearly no one on this thread spends every night all night on Alki. As in right on the street. So, maybe I should submit some videos. Because I’ve taken plenty. There are lots of various types of cars that drive WAY TOO FAST. As in up to 80 mph. Maybe faster. The speed bumps on Beach Drive help in the areas they are in. So as long as they are like those and all the way down from Cactus to really the boat launch park or even Salty’s, they will make a difference. Sections will help and if thats your route to work, change it. Go up to California then to the bridge. As for cameras, yes there should be good cameras along the same areas. Why not? They would make money off the speeders. It would just be over with. I noticed no one even mentioned dog safety. People like me who live on Alki take their dog out at all hours. I can’t tell you how many times my neighbors have complained while walking their dogs late at night. And this is not just a summer problem. Lastly, those darn rental scooters and mopeds. Other cities like NYC and SF -HATE them. Look it up on YouTube. I really am shocked that not many people on here or Nextdoor complain about them. Especially given the general mindset of the average WS resident these days. They are not only laying all over ( unsightly )  plus getting thrown into the water all the time, but those newer ones are so fast, they are NOT safe. Theres several groups of older teens that drive really recklessly. I see them almost every night.  I actually have video from my dash cam of some of them throwing cones at passing cars and at a motorcycle. Again, this is a seriously annoying issue for those of us who live on Alki. People who dont , have no idea what really goes on here every night and its not just summer weekends. 

  • Alki-West Resident September 17, 2022 (11:53 pm)

    I live on the West side of Beach Drive near La Rustica restaurant on Carrol and in the last two summers we have had TWO vehicles slam into the cement retaining wall in front of our complex going 50+ mph, and another hit a parked car in broad daylight—all hit and runs, including a mustang that lost two wheels in the collision. Someone was also killed in front of Me-Kwa Mooks park 200 yards away. We are all for real speed bumps every half mile along the long stretches of the beachfront because the cars screaming around Beach Drive at excessive speeds is a constant problem. The location of these speed bumps doesn’t seem to make any sense. Is there anywhere we can see the data points on “years of community requests”? 

  • Andrew Smith October 2, 2022 (12:56 pm)

    When I moved to Alki and dared to complain about the sheer amount of reckless driving on Alki Beach, I was told, “Welcome to Alki.” It’s a chronic public safety problem and we expect the city to do much more than this about it. There are children everywhere down there trying to cross the road. My kids dodged a motorcyclist doing a wheelie and another person doing a burnout. We hear the speeding cars and reckless motorcyclists literally every sunny day peeling out even if we aren’t on the beach.

    It’s HAS TO STOP. Where is Bruce Harrell? Lisa Herbold? Do more for public safety, or we will vote you out.

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