UPDATE: Crash on Delridge Way next to Southwest Precinct

10:40 PM: That’s a framegrab from the SDOT traffic camera at Delridge/Orchard, looking south at a crash scene just outside the east side of the Southwest Precinct at Delridge/Webster. The crash is blocking the southbound bicycle lane and part of the southbound general-purpose traffic lane. So far we’ve heard police tell dispatch that one driver was involved and that she hit a utility pole, so they’ve summoned City Light, too.

12:24 AM: Traffic camera showed the scene just clearing with a flatbed tow truck taking away the damaged vehicle.

11 AM: SPD tells us the driver is a 22-year-old woman who was not seriously hurt.

sam-c August 22, 2023 (8:00 am)

Thanks you for the info. I was wondering what happened, when I saw the mangled guardrail this morning.

D-Ridge August 22, 2023 (9:45 am)

This is why I get frustrated with the Delridge reconstruction project; the bike lane in the picture is so unsafe and unprotected for a road like this. There should be real barriers/curbs for those outside of cars, not paint in the gutter like there currently is. I’m a daily biker but I still feel like I’m taking a massive risk every time I’m on this street which is a real shame for a $49 million “multi-modal” project.

Neighbor August 22, 2023 (10:50 am)

Agree to all of this. Such a waste. Was hoping to potentially start to commute by bike when they first announced the project. After seeing it completed, my only thought was “not worth the risk.”
- D-Ridge August 22, 2023 (6:32 pm)
  
  I had a friend who actually *stopped* biking because the project removed the northbound bike lane north of Holden.
M August 22, 2023 (3:00 pm)

Well said. Some actual protection would encourage me ride, along with safety modifications to the connecting greenways.
Jay August 22, 2023 (4:12 pm)

And it doesn’t connect to Marginal. North Delridge requires riders to weave through neighborhoods. It’s an actively hostile area for biking, too dangerous for casual riders or kids. It’s such a shame we spent so much money on improvements for it to only cover car lanes and car storage with no alternative mobility options considered.

Jethro Marx August 22, 2023 (1:30 pm)

More than one car involved in this, methinks. I did not see the collision but a well-engined car immediately sped south in the aftermath, squealing tires the whole way. I think there must have been some body panels scrunched into the tire because it was squealing even when not accelerating. I heard it run all the way down into White Center at relatively high rates of speed.

MyThruppence August 22, 2023 (5:45 pm)

This is interesting. I think the young lady may be a neighbor of mine, a few blocks to the southwest of the crash scene, as a tow truck arrived around 12:45 am and loudly offloaded a vehicle for 30 minutes. The household in question has many, many vehicles constantly over cluttering the street and seems to do a lot of repair work in the driveway, some of which is indeed on loud street-racing type vehicles. I miss the quiet neighborhood with conscientious neighbors and clear streets that I once enjoyed in this very same home.
DTW August 22, 2023 (9:37 pm)

Ah, I was wondering what that was! I heard it too.