TRAFFIC, WEATHER, ROAD WORK, TRANSIT: Monday, with 4th/Spokane fatal-crash closure

8:14 AM: Thanks for the tip. 4th/Spokane (surface) is blocked while police investigate a deadly crash.

9:04 AM: Police have just published an update – they are looking for a hit-run driver who hit and killed an 83-year-old woman who was “walking westbound in the pedestrian crosswalk when an SUV ran her over when making a right turn onto Spokane from 4th.” The SPD update did not include a description of the SUV/driver. (update) Audio from the early dispatches, however, described it as a Jeep, possibly dark red/maroon. The first callout was at quarter till 8.

9:17 AM: Collision at Highland Park Way/West Marginal, but police report no injuries, so SFD is leaving that scene.

9:55 AM: 4th/Spokane has reopened. No word of an arrest yet.

Earlier:

6:01 AM: Good morning! It’s Monday, May 5, 2025.

WEATHER + SUNRISE/SUNSET TIMES

Sunny and mid-60s expected today, mid-70s tomorrow! Today’s sunrise was at 5:45 am; sunset will be at 8:27 pm.

(Sunday sunset silhouette, photographed by Mike Burns)

ROAD WORK

-Street work for the Alki Standby Generator Project could start as soon as today on Beach Drive SW just south of 63rd – details and map here.

-The Admiral Way Bridge’s outside lane on the eastbound/southbound side is still closed.

TRANSIT TODAY

Water Taxi – Regular West Seattle service; spring/summer schedule, with later-evening sailings Fridays and Saturdays.

Metro buses – Regular schedule.

Washington State Ferries – Regular service on the Triangle Route, with M/V Kittitas and M/V Cathlamet, plus M/V Salish is serving as the “bonus boat”. P.S. Next round of community meetings – online, systemwide – have been announced for later this month.

SPOTLIGHT TRAFFIC CAMERAS

High Bridge – Here’s the main camera, followed by the Fauntleroy-end camera:

Spokane Street Viaduct:

Low Bridge – Looking west:

1st Avenue South Bridge:

Delridge cameras: In addition to the one below (Delridge/Genesee), cameras are also at Delridge/Juneau, Delridge/Henderson, Delridge/Oregon, and video-only (so you have to go to the map), Delridge/Holden and Delridge/Thistle.

MORE TRAFFIC CAMS: All functioning traffic cams citywide are here (including links to live video for most); for a quick scan of West Seattle and vicinity-relevant cameras, see this WSB page.

See a problem on the bridges/streets/paths/water? Please text or call our hotline (when you can do it safely, and after you’ve reported to authorities if they’re not already on scene) – 206-293-6302. Thank you!

M May 5, 2025 (8:22 am)

No 21x busses running today, it looks like. Wonder if it will be the same in the evening.

WSB May 5, 2025 (8:44 am)

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Perhaps the 4th/Spokane crash is affecting them?
- M May 5, 2025 (3:27 pm)
  
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  Extremely tragic, but I don’t think it affected it. I didn’t see any listed on OneBusAway prior to the death, and didn’t see my regularly scheduled one afterward either. The express uses 99, and the C lines were fine.

Admiral-2009 May 5, 2025 (9:43 am)

Hit and run driver’s is a significant safety issue that needs to be addressed with harsher penalties. A major contributing factor to this epidemic is the high rate of uninsured motorists that needs to be addressed. I have contacted our legislators on uninsured driver’s and have received no response at all. Why no response on a clear safety issue?

K May 5, 2025 (10:15 am)

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Does insurance make people stop after hitting someone? Does lack of insurance make them inattentive and careless while driving? What a bizarre conclusion, that being uninsured causes hit and runs. Banning free right turns would save a lot more lives than higher fines for something that is already regulated.
T Rex May 5, 2025 (10:38 am)

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Agree! In California, you could not get your car registration and tabs unless you had proof of insurance, and if your tabs were not updated, you got pulled over and fined for both! I am sure it is not that way anymore, but it was a great idea. Will not work here though. Seattle does not pull you over for tabs anymore. I see people who have not got their registration for 2-3 years.
What a sad story to hear this morning. I hope they catch the person who did this.
- WSB May 5, 2025 (11:45 am)
  
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  The “does not pull you over for tabs any more” is wrong. Listen to the scanner some day/night. They ARE making traffic stops. And not just for tabs.
  - Jort May 5, 2025 (1:15 pm)
    
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    Well, SPD did give itself some very specific guidance to stop pulling people over primarily for expired tabs: https://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2022/01/14/spd-updates-traffic-stop-guidelines/ Has this guidance been rescinded? I found it appalling, at the time, and frustrated that these kind of self-imposed restrictions by SPD itself were somehow portrayed as nefarious efforts by Lisa Herbold.
    - WSB May 5, 2025 (1:20 pm)
      
      That was three years ago, and there have been changes.
  - T Rex May 5, 2025 (8:22 pm)
    
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    Thank you for correcting me, appreciate it.
- Jort May 5, 2025 (1:19 pm)
  
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  It’s also effective to ensure that all back-dated fees are paid in full, too, before current registration can be given.

Kathy Dunn May 5, 2025 (9:45 am)

Another person in a crosswalk slaughtered by a person in a car. Sadly, if it were a gun violence victim there would be more outcry. There is often more outcry about traffic disruption when someone dies on our streets. When we prioritize street design for fast car travel and design cars like tanks this is the outcome we are promoting. Your traffic would be less disrupted by these tragedies if the streets were made safer.

Alki resident May 5, 2025 (9:44 pm)

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How about blaming the driver instead of street design. I’ve been here all of my life and this is a first on that corner. The driver caused this, not the road or a sign or a light.

anonyme May 5, 2025 (10:11 am)

Agree with Admiral and Kathy. Pedestrian deaths took a slight dip last year, but are up 48% since 2014. Golly, do you think that the total lack of any traffic enforcement in the area might have anything to do with that? We all know that this driver, in the unlikely event that they are found, will get a slap on the wrist for this murder. It’s time to stop treating murder by vehicle as a lesser crime than any other killing. It might also be time to eliminate right turns on red; I’ve been knocked into multiple times by vehicles making these turns. Drivers always look to the left while accelerating, completely ignoring the crosswalk they’re turning into. And if you, as a pedestrian about to be run down, happen to give the hood a whack, either the driver will launch a secondary attack, or the cops will come after you, rather than the actual offender. The hypocrisy is galling. One more thing: a huge number of vehicles have illegally opted out of front license plates, making identification in such crimes even more difficult. Yet another example of lack of enforcement.

Jort May 5, 2025 (1:26 pm)

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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I don’t love the way that sometimes trigger-happy cops can turn traffic stops into power trips – but traffic law enforcement is the only control we have for dangerous driving. Unlike other countries, we are not designing our roads and cities to protect people and curb bad driving habits – in fact our society is actively hostile to efforts that slow cars down, even trivially. What has somehow developed is that cops seem to feel traffic enforcement is a low priority, despite it being one of the leading causes of unintentional death and injury in this country. Again: it is the only risk control we have, so when cops shrug their shoulders and blow off that responsibility, what we’re saying is, basically, “you’re on your own.” It’s offensive and it is no surprise that our fatality rate continues to climb, uniquely among peer countries. We’ve taken the one risk control we have and threw it away.

anonyme May 5, 2025 (10:26 am)

There are actually a few more things. Many of these gigantic SUV’s are taller than many adults, much less children, making it impossible to see anyone directly in front of the vehicle. This does not excuse reckless and negligent driving (which is prevalent), but it would seem to open up the possibility of lawsuits against the manufacturers and designers of these death machines. And if we want to take responsibility completely out of the hands of drivers, which seems to be the trend, then all vehicles should be required to have technology that causes immediate braking if an object is in its path. Yes it’s complicated, but currently there is NOTHING being done about this problem at any level, including the multi-million dollar joke called Vision Zero.

JustSarah May 5, 2025 (12:02 pm)

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Agreed. And now that a bunch of automakers are producing EV versions of their gigantic SUVs, there are even deadlier vehicles hitting the roads. The new Cadillac Escalade EV weighs 9000 pounds–50% more than the gas-powered version. Hood height is nearly 5′. Rivian R1S is just a tiny bit lighter and shorter, at 8500 lb. and ~57″ hood height. These are incredibly deadly vehicles, and I see people driving them at excessive speeds on residential streets all the time. I recently was driving down California when the school zone lights were flashing, and a guy in an R1S was flying down the road heading the other direction. I flashed my lights and motioned him to slow down, and he just gave me a big smirk and flipped me off. Fun times we live in.
- anonyme May 5, 2025 (5:17 pm)
  
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  Absolutely obscene. What are these wormholes trying to compensate for? The obvious top answer is closely followed by lack of intelligence.

Admiral-2009 May 5, 2025 (12:14 pm)

K – data shows that uninsured motorists are more likely to hit and run than an insured one!

No where in the incident discussion was Right turn on Red mentioned as a culprit. RTOR should not be restricted unless there is a good technical reason to do so.

anonyme May 5, 2025 (5:14 pm)

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I’d say mowing down pedestrians while making a RTOR is a damn good technical reason to restrict them. As for uninsured drivers, unlicensed ones are even worse – and just as common.

ACG May 5, 2025 (1:41 pm)

My condolences to her family. I hope they find the driver.

Jeff May 5, 2025 (3:03 pm)

Reckless driving is a violent act, and should be treated accordingly. Running down pedestrians is basically the perfect murder, and the “I just didn’t see them!” defense is unbeatable.