Since the Alki-area public-safety meeting convened by District 1 City Councilmember Rob Saka last month (WSB coverage here), we’ve been asking SDOT about where specifically they’re planning speed cushions and other traffic calming, as promised at the meeting. They told us last week they were still working on it. Then Councilmember Saka said at this afternoon’s City Council briefing meeting that he would have an announcement later in the day – and it’s just in, with this SDOT map:
Here’s the SDOT elaboration that Saka included:
We now have a final design, and work scheduled, for the concrete speed cushion installations on Harbor, Alki and 56th Ave SW. The map shows the speed hump locations and it is at 90% design. Taking a design from 90-100% is essentially completed in the field.
The work orders are all [in] and field layout is tentatively scheduled … with the actual construction beginning July 29. “Field layout” means people will see temporary markings outlining the locations of the speed cushions, while construction itself shouldn’t take more than 2-3 days.
NOTE: To avoid confusion, speed cushions, humps, and bumps are often used interchangeably. However, speed cushions are done with cut-outs on non-arterial streets which are generally more narrow so to allow for fire truck access. The speed ‘humps’ are more shallow than speed ‘bumps’ to allow for fire truck access but steep enough to slow vehicles down on the arterial streets.
The speed cushion implementation is essentially a Phase 1 of potential improvements. SDOT will also be looking at narrowing the roadway outside the Duwamish Head area, where the lane width is already relatively narrow, and this work will be done likely in September.
The angle parking at Duwamish Head, however, will stay the same for now, though nearby residents have asked for it either to be blocked off or converted to parallel parking. Saka’s announcement continues:
As a longer-term option, SDOT may look at some outreach on alternative options for reconfiguring the Duwamish Head parking. My understanding is that SDOT have significant concerns with reconfiguring the Duwamish Head parking as it would actually create significant more space in the right of way for aggressive driving/passing of vehicles. At the very least, SDOT believes that a parking reconfiguration would require some significant outreach as the impacts could also exacerbate parking concerns in the broader neighborhood.
Here’s the official construction notice circulating to people in the area.
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