WEDNESDAY: Comment time for city budget, including two new West Seattle school-zone ticketing cameras

| Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

(Graphic from seattle.gov)

Tomorrow night brings the first of two City Council public hearings devoted entirely to the budget proposal for the next two years. (Read it in its entirety, or department by department, as linked here.) You can speak to the council either in person at City Hall or remotely. The hearing starts at 5 pm. If you’re going to City Hall, child care is available starting at 4:30 pm (RSVP via email, leg_operations@seattle.gov). That’s also when signups start for the commenter list. At City Hall, the signup sheet is inside Council Chambers upstairs; remotely, follow these instructions.

We reported some West Seattle-specific budget points in this late-September story. One additional point of note: SDOT‘s budget proposal includes speeding-ticket cameras for 19 more school zones around the city, and while the locations aren’t listed in the budget document, SDOT has released the list. Two of the new camera zones are in our area – West Seattle High School and Alki Elementary. SDOT says the new cameras around the city would “be implemented in two phases in 2025” – WSHS is in Phase 1, and Alki Elementary (which is being rebuilt and expanded, opening in fall 2026) is in Phase 2. The camera zone for WSHS is described as California SW between SW Hanford and SW Stevens; the camera zone for Alki is described as SW Admiral Way between 60th SW and 57th SW. The budget item actually is for revenue rather than spending – the document says funding for camera installation is already in this year’s budget; projected ticketrevenue is more than $4 million next year, $10 million the year after that.

West Seattle already has five school zones with camera enforcement – Delridge Way for Boren STEM K-8, Fauntleroy Way for Gatewood Elementary and for Fairmount Park Elementary, 35th SW for Our Lady of Guadalupe, SW Roxbury for Holy Family.

Back to Wednesday’s budget hearing – you can comment on a specific item or a general issue/concern, up to you. The second hearing is November 12th, but by that point, the council is just a week away from key almost-final votes, so you have more potential impact now. You can also send email comments any time, as explained here.

Orb October 15, 2024 (10:40 pm)

Can we give all the money from the fines to SPS?

Christine October 16, 2024 (7:04 am)

Excellent idea.
K October 16, 2024 (8:28 am)

I believe the revenue is required to be spent on traffic safety improvements.

SpeedRacer October 16, 2024 (4:49 am)

Once in a while I’ll drive down 35th Avenue (usually late at night) and will notice a “Photo Enforced” sign that I think is around the Camp Long area. Is this area actually photo enforced in some way? I can’t figure out what it’s referring to. I’m sure it’s been discussed somewhere on the Blog but I don’t have a clue and wonder if someone can help me out.

Jason October 16, 2024 (8:18 am)

It 100% will mail you a ticket. I got one once… it usually does months later, with a picture. Avalon/35 one as well.
LongtimeWesty October 16, 2024 (9:25 am)

Hi SpeedRacer- they are allowed to park a car that monitors speed and takes photos of violators there. In over 20 years I’ve seen the car there exactly once, many years ago (over 15 years at least). Not that it hasn’t been there more often, but I drive that stretch regularly and only saw it the one time. So no permanent camera there.
ACG October 16, 2024 (9:45 am)

There used to be a mobile van/truck that had the camera that would sometimes be parked there snapping pics of speeders. I remember seeing it parked there pre pandemic, but no idea if it is still there anymore.
SPEEDY October 16, 2024 (10:27 am)

That sign has been there fore decades. It was installed when we had traffic enforcement and SPD used radar for catching speeders. Nothing like the Wild West of roadways nowadays.

Gaslit October 16, 2024 (5:58 am)

The purpose of government is not to create “revenue” off the backs of the people.

Pete October 16, 2024 (8:31 am)

Fair point. But there’s a very easy way to avoid being penalised…
WS October 16, 2024 (9:26 am)

Oh, then don’t speed in a school zone. Nobody should even have to tell you that. When it comes to child safety, I’m perfectly fine with speeders getting hefty fines.
Joshua October 16, 2024 (12:30 pm)

Correct, but the role of government is to allow for safe economic flow of the region including regulating the roadways that government created. Government is duty bound to create and enforce laws that protect the citizens. Traffic cameras very much meet this standard.
SoLongDelridge October 18, 2024 (1:05 am)

Wait until you learn about the economic system the government endorses and propagates.

CarDriver October 16, 2024 (6:08 am)

WSB. Curious if SDOT breaks out who got school zone tickets-wondering what % go to parents of students at that school vs residents who live nearby vs people just passing through.

K October 16, 2024 (8:31 am)

I don’t even know how you would break that down, or how useful it would be to do so. Parents don’t register vehicles with the school system. There is no way to look at a car’s license plate and know if it’s a parent of a school kid. And what about the parents that are also residents, or just passing through during their work day? And what does anyone have to gain by categorizing the people who get tickets? An easier way for people to yell” it wasn’t me!” like an 8-year-old? I think all kinds of people get tickets in school zones, and I’m glad SDOT doesn’t spend resources answering questions like this.
- Dustin October 16, 2024 (9:24 am)
  
  I think the idea was, to what extent are these systems penalizing the people they are intended to protect.
  - Kyle October 16, 2024 (12:23 pm)
    
    It’s designed to protect pedestrians (mostly kids) walking near the school around bell times. Why does it matter if the speeding driver was another parent, a neighbor, delivery driver etc.? Pay the fine and learn the lesson.
  - Anne October 17, 2024 (10:02 am)
    
    What?

Derek October 16, 2024 (8:01 am)

Don’t let this conservative council cut the Office of Labor Standards. Write Saka wnd tell him not to support this. It’s absurd they want to cut the few checks and balances we have and just run wild and have no enforcement of labor standards, it’s downright criminal.

Joe Z October 16, 2024 (11:22 am)

Saka doesn’t seem to read or acknowledge his emails.

K October 16, 2024 (8:33 am)

November 12 is a Tuesday. Is the second hearing Wednesday the 13th or Tuesday the 12th?

WSB October 16, 2024 (8:42 am)

Ha, I didn’t fact-check the city’s graphic. I’ll pull that for now. Conflicting references on the budget-process page from which I pulled it, so I’ll check with CM Strauss’s office. (Might even be able to ask in person, as we are currently on our way to City Hall for the advance media briefing on today’s release of comp-plan zoning maps.)

JustSarah October 16, 2024 (11:44 am)

Super minor, but Gatewood Elementary actually has two school-zone camera areas; the second is on California Ave.

WSB October 16, 2024 (11:57 am)

No, it does not. While that section of California is a school zone with flashing beacons (and now speed cushions!), the only Gatewood-linked cameras are in the zone on Fauntleroy.

Marcus October 16, 2024 (12:26 pm)

So here we are with one of the most useful and safety oriented methods of keeping our kids safer and,,,wait for it,,, it is coming… the anti-all-things-government dissidents are against it. I mean really do you guys think about what you’re writing or are you so nearsighted and obsessed that common sense does not enter your sphere of thought?

LPM October 16, 2024 (1:12 pm)

The street in front of Holy Rosary School is northbound one way. Kids are constantly going across the street for school purposes. I stopped a driver going the wrong way on that street and advised him that it was a one way street and he was going the wrong way. His response? “Yeah, I know. That is why I’m going so slow. I think you will be safe” Entitlement at its finest right there. People just don’t care about the rules of the road.

Bbron October 16, 2024 (2:03 pm)

and always for such imperceptible gains. you saved a few seconds of time, but created an incredibly unsafe environment for everyone else. not just entitlement, but a lack of any critical thinking and empathy. funding public transit and road modifications to make driving a worst overall experience isn’t just a climate necessity, but also a solution to what appears to be a ballooning mental health crisis directly cause by driving.

Laurie Ross October 16, 2024 (3:04 pm)

This isn’t the only budget item that will affect West Seattle. Harrell’s plan includes eliminating Environmental Education in the parks. The bare-bones team and their volunteers bust their butts all over the city, connecting people of all ages with their increasingly-precious natural world.Programs at Lincoln Park, Mee Kwa Mooks, Camp Long & Longfellow Creek, for example, and outreach & classes at city events, libraries, community centers etc. will be bulldozed for a relatively small short-term gain. It’s what, one (1) million bucks? And a basic part of what Seattle Parks and Recreation has been *there* for, until now. If this mature and well-functioning program is destroyed, it’s not going to be replaced any time soon.

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