Al texted to say the signal at 47th/Admiral is malfunctioning and backing up traffic. (After-hours, you can report signal trouble and other problems needing SDOT attention to 206-386-1800.)
West Seattle, Washington
30 Tuesday
Al texted to say the signal at 47th/Admiral is malfunctioning and backing up traffic. (After-hours, you can report signal trouble and other problems needing SDOT attention to 206-386-1800.)
That signal has been a problem for a LONG time. I’ve made MANY calls, and MANY find it fix it emails. The problem: Should stay green for Admiral way as it is the arterial. Should only turn red if a car or pedestrian wishes to enter the intersection/cross the street and trips the light/presses the walk signal. Been MANY times I’ve pulled up on Admiral and stopped because the light turned red. Looking, I see there are NO cars on Waite OR 47th looking to enter that intersection nor were there any pedestrians (or bike riders) who were waiting to cross the street. Light simply went through the cycle.
From my experience, it worked fine as recently as Saturday, but went dumb by Monday afternoon. The signal acts like it lost its ability to sense traffic on Waite St. and 47th, and started just going through a three-phase sequence with fixed timing. On Monday evening, traffic was backed up 300 yards down Admiral to the west, and all the way to California to the east, where it was causing gridlock at both California and 42nd.
Agree. Cars & busses backed up at all hours staring at a red light with no cross traffic (with the occasional impatient light runner).
The signal was not warranted at 47th at Admiral and should never have been installed in the first place! It is a political signal that continues to malfunction and cause significant queues on Admiral.
I believe the signal was installed due to a pedestrian fatality. It is a 5 way intersection and very dangerous with the limited line of sight. It is needed yet I agree it should be fixed.
This! As a public transit commuter, this light was much appreciated—pausing the bus long enough for me to cross Admiral and hop on at the stop 😅
Maybe just a data point but it was installed many years after the pedestrian fatality. IMO if it was because of the fatality, it would have been installed much sooner. I have mixed feelings about its current existence.
Community advocates fought hard for many years to make that signal happen. One story of many along the way:
https://westseattleblog.com/2013/01/new-hope-for-a-traffic-signal-at-47th-and-admiral-way/
It was finally built in 2015, two years after the City Council approved funding for it, though then-Mayor Mike McGinn did not want to fund it, per our archives.
It was glitching this morning at 8am and had backed up traffic. I thought they were intentionally trying to slow traffic down on admiral so didn’t report it. Glad to know it wasn’t going to be a regular thing for the admiral sign to only be green for a 40 second increment.
Pedestrian fatalities are horrific whenever and wherever they occur. But, if the city’s true goal is to end all of them, wouldn’t they install traffic signals at EVERY intersection in the city? What exactly is the criteria for installation??
The criteria is arbitrary, inadequate, and it’s bleeding us dry. The question is when will drivers get a clue.
There’s been a few times when it is red but there are no other cars or pedestrians around then I will pause then drive through it. I know the light was necessary but the waits are at times ridiculous! Yesterday the traffic was backed all the way up to California trying to get through it. Doesn’t help that Charleston was/ is closed due to ice.
Confirmed, stood near the intersection this morning. It is toggling unnecessarily. Also the sequence does not need to complete the entire cycle for just one walker or one car. The controller is smart enough it is just the programming. Needs to be reset and/or reprogrammed. This is dangerous because frustrated drivers may run the red lights, saw that this morning also.
People run this red light everyday whether it is properly functioning or not.
I reported this through FIFI (Find It, Fix It) back in early December and this is what I heard back on December 26th. WSB, are you able to get us an update perhaps?”Thank you for contacting SDOT with your concerns about the operation of the traffic signal at 47th Avenue SW and SW Admiral Way. The vehicle detection system is failing at this location, and some of the sensors need replacement. We are working with our repair shop on a plan to address the detection at this location, and we have made some temporary timing changes until the issues can be resolved. Unfortunately, we do not have a timeline for the full restoration of all detection at this time. We appreciate your patience and understanding as this work continues. Sincerely, Dianne Thomas Traffic Signal Correspondence Seattle Department of Transportation ”
I usually give the government response time and process a big pass because of the inherent delays that are just unavoidable. However in this case we have an intersection with horrible line-of-sight, history of a fatality, confirmed red light runners, and a heavily used pedestrian crossing directly adjacent to a bus stop. I expect a lot more from SDOT for this situation and much faster repair time. Can Saka address this and use his influence?
Sorry, comment time is over.
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