41 Replies to "West Seattle's newest speed cushions, including two sets on California Avenue SW"

• John September 6, 2024 (12:48 pm)

  I live adjacent to the new “cushions” near Myrtle on California.  
  It will be interesting  to see and feel any difference.  
  Currently Metro busses careen down California hitting a settled uneven panel in the street and literally shaking  our building like an earthquake.

  We have  multiple changes around Gatewood School in vain attempts to control irresponsible drivers.  
  Myrtle’s original curb bump at Fauntleroy has been supplanted by  new three way Stop signs at 46th Ave and now the “cushions.”  

  How I long for the days when pedestrian and vehicle laws were enforced, and followed, in Seattle.   

  • Karl September 13, 2024 (8:01 am)

    Agreed!

• Alki Deuce September 6, 2024 (12:56 pm)

  How about more speed cushions on Alki? Since the new ones were installed they have become the new starting blocks for the nightly drag racing on Alki that head toward the south, which is even more active than before. You can’t just throw a dart and install a random speed bump and expect it to fix the problem–it needs to be comprehensive throughout the drag strip known as Alki Avenue. We residents are starting to call 911 on the criminals and will keep doing so until the city decides to do what has to be done. 

• Jay September 6, 2024 (1:06 pm)

  I like how the cushions are narrow enough that pickup trucks and SUBs, the vehicles that cause the most fatalities, can just ignore them with their wide wheelbase. A lot of them I can drive over with my Impreza without being bounced. I don’t get the purpose of speed bumps that only slow small cars.

• lucy September 6, 2024 (1:07 pm)

  I live down on Alki Ave and have noticed some reduction in street car racing.  The motorcycles are not slowing down as they simply go in between the pillows.  It is a warm, sunny Friday afternoon that will turn into a lovely evening.  We will see what happens tonight.

• Vrrrrooom September 6, 2024 (1:16 pm)

  “these weren’t expected to be installed until early next year but the crew managed to accelerate.“Amusing irony. 

• CarDriver September 6, 2024 (1:29 pm)

  The new “cushions” along Alki Ave worked until people figured out that they’re so gentle that slowing down isn’t necessary. These look like the same design. The ones they put on Harbor Ave are “squarer” and people do slow down.

  • WSB September 6, 2024 (1:39 pm)

    Might have something to do with road width.

  • Bbron September 6, 2024 (2:11 pm)

    same thing I see on Thistle. SUVs and trucks with higher suspension aren’t impacted at all and careen on thru. speed cushions just aren’t effective. either put in effective bumps that make it uncomfortable or damaging to drive over while speeding, or narrow the roads.

    • Ross September 6, 2024 (5:25 pm)

      Or do nothing. These are not needed.

      • Bbron September 6, 2024 (8:19 pm)

        homeless folks exist: “think of the children!” kids and people almost getting hit, are injured or killed by cars: *crickets*

      • Danimal September 6, 2024 (8:45 pm)

        100% agreed. City I pay taxes to already literally stealing my money by damaging and wearing out my car faster. It’s infuriating. And no I don’t care that it makes people angry that I’m angry about it. I already stop for all pedestrians crossing legally and pay attention while driving. I don’t need my car wrecked by road obstacles to remind me to do what I’m already doing.

        • K September 7, 2024 (8:58 am)

          If you’re driving over them properly and not speeding, they’re not going to wreck your car.  Maybe try taking some personal responsibility for the way you drive instead of blaming all of your problems on the city.

  • Peter September 6, 2024 (2:19 pm)

    They’re designed to be manageable at the speed limit. The point is that they’re much less so for drivers going significantly over the speed limit.  

    • CW September 7, 2024 (8:24 am)

      I beg to differ. I routinely traverse speed cushions and I’m a stickler for sticking to the speed limits. Maybe not the newest speed cushions, but there are plenty of speed bumps in WS that require slowing down to 10-15 mph to traverse safely with a sedan while being tailgated by impatient drivers with oversized vehicles. 

• Seattlite September 6, 2024 (2:02 pm)

  It’s amazing the amount of dollars this city spends on ineffective roadway  speed deterrents.  Bringing SPD up to full staffing is the only way to stop lawless drivers.  The “speed cushions” do nothing to deter reckless, careless, negligent drivers.  When I walk around Beach Drive, the drivers speed and swerve around the speed cushions.  I also see this on 48th Ave SW between Erskine and the four-way stop at Beach Dr and Lincoln Park Way SW.  There is such a transparent pattern of this city going out of its way to make life for citizens more difficult instead doing the common sense, right thing.  Why is that?

  • Nolan September 8, 2024 (9:59 pm)

    It beggars belief that you seem to think hiring (even) more cops is a better solution for speeding than making the road less accommodating to speeding.Are there any problems you think can’t be solved with police officers?

• PDiddy September 6, 2024 (2:28 pm)

  Speed Cushions? Is that the new PC word for speed bumps? Lame…

  • WSB September 6, 2024 (2:31 pm)

    No, it’s an accurate name that discerns between “speed cushions” (gap between) and “speed humps” (no gap, one installation spans the street).

    • PDiddy September 6, 2024 (3:19 pm)

      Huh. Ok I stand corrected.

      • SoLongDelridge September 7, 2024 (1:36 am)

        I hope this a turning point in your journey, where from here on you actually attempt to educate yourself.

• Roger jackson September 6, 2024 (5:01 pm)

  Those speed cushions, as they call them, don’t affect motorcycles. They go just blazing through them in between the two bumps They’re also loud and obnoxious

• Chimole September 6, 2024 (5:03 pm)

  Those speed cushions, as they call them, don’t affect motorcycles. They go just blazing through them in between the two bumps They’re also loud and obnoxious

• Chris September 6, 2024 (5:35 pm)

  Speed bumps put on 21st Ave S W on Pigeon Point cannot be driven around or in between.   They are serious speed bumps made we believe out of cement.

• I love not getting killed crossingg Fauntleroy September 6, 2024 (8:26 pm)

  I think Fauntleroy needs these or something to slow down drivers. Until you try to walk across it anywhere, you may not realize how dangerously fast people drive there. Something needs to be done BEFORE someone dies there.

  • SpencerGT September 7, 2024 (9:42 am)

    Ticketing people going 35 could be a start.

• F. U. Essdaht September 6, 2024 (8:36 pm)

  I like how they make vehicles randomly swerve a foot or two from side to side into the bike lanes or towards oncoming traffic to get a wheel into the flat channel.  Great work SDOT.  Brilliant improvement to public safety.

• Azimuth September 6, 2024 (8:40 pm)

  Can we just have roads that aren’t falling apart?

  • Jim September 6, 2024 (10:23 pm)

    I’ll second that

  • 1994 September 7, 2024 (8:28 pm)

    If SDoT installs more speed cushions all over then many streets will have been ‘fixed’ by having various dips & pot holes filled.

• Scott September 6, 2024 (8:57 pm)

  I think that the two sets of cushions on California are completely unacceptable. I frankly believe that in their current form they are going to be dangerous to people and damaging to cars. They are almost completely unmarked, they don’t have any kind of signage that I’ve seen in either direction saying that they are there and they are barely painted on top of that. You also have to slow down below the posted speed limit by a significant amount if you don’t want to hit them to hard. It wont surprise me if someone who doesn’t know about or see them lose control after hitting them to hard and being surprised having a car accident there. Also what is the plan for winter if/when it snows? I’m assuming you can’t snow plow over speed cushions. So are they just not going to plow that section of California anymore? Even if they do plow it they will still add another obstacle to going up or coming down that big hill right there.

  • YT September 7, 2024 (9:46 am)

    Making people slow down to below the posted speed limit is the whole point of speed cushions/bumps.  If people were driving at or below the posted speed limit, which they are legally required to do, there wouldn’t be an issue.

    • Scott September 7, 2024 (12:50 pm)

      I understand that they are ment to make people slow down but they should be small enough that you can still go the speed limit and go over them safely and without possibly damaging your car. It they are forcing people to slow down well below the posted speed limit what’s the point of having the speed limit posted that high there? Also that section of California has a huge amount of space between the lanes and the sidewalks because of the parking and bike lanes. It also has a stop light crosswalk there so it’s already pretty safe. I’m just saying that it your going to put speed cushions on an major arterial Street that is one of two in the major West Seattle area they should be designed so that you can go the speed limit the 99% of the time there aren’t children present. Put a traffic ticket camera there instead that is timed to the school zone then the city can make money and slow people down appropriately. 

• Alf September 6, 2024 (9:28 pm)

  The intent to slow traffic while appreciated those who are hell bent on speeding move to residential streets that parallel California 44th Ave is a speedway in the morning and afternoon with parents getting their kids to Madison first day of school there was a fender bender at the traffic round Andover and 44thfirst day!  Just going to get worse till a terrible accident or the kids who walk someone gets hitThese bare parents who would not do this on their street, I realize police are stretched but for heaven sake what are possible solutions that don’t include the death of someone 

• Chris September 7, 2024 (1:01 pm)

  We noticed that in North Admiral.   Now racers are racing down alleys and side streets over here.  

• holy September 7, 2024 (1:24 pm)

  We urgently need these on California in Admiral area! Our neighborhood has a high school, elementary school and lots of daycare. Still there are cars and motorcycles racing making at least 60 in a SCHOOL ZONE!!

• AT September 7, 2024 (6:22 pm)

  Doesn’t Gatewood already have speed cameras in the school zone?  Speed humps on an arterial is a surprising choice.

  • WSB September 7, 2024 (6:29 pm)

    The arterial speed camera for Gatewood is on Fauntleroy. The arterial speed cushions are on California.

    • AT September 8, 2024 (7:16 am)

      Thank you

• Arash Sarraf September 9, 2024 (11:32 am)

  Bellevue doesn’t have these and their roads are way better than ours.  why are our roads being plagued with these but not on the east side? 🤔

  • WSB September 9, 2024 (12:25 pm)

    Yes, Bellevue has speed cushions. A quick websearch brings up this
    https://bellevuewa.gov/city-government/departments/transportation/projects/neighborhood-projects/newport-heights-traffic-project
    And that’s just the first result.

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