FOLLOWUP: New speed cushions installed on 16th Avenue SW

| Safety | Transportation | West Seattle news

If you travel 16th SW in the Cloverdale-to-Trenton vicinity, you’ll note the new speed cushions are now in place. One of them is close to the site of Sunday night’s 16th/Sullivan crash, but the installation already was planned (we’ve been trying to get official info from SDOT since a reader tip last Thursday) before that. Our photo is from a short time ago; WSB contributor Anne Higuera notes the crew was just packing up when she stopped for the photo. Our questions for SDOT include whether anywhere else in West Seattle is getting new speed cushions any time soon; we’ll add anything we find out. Meantime, if you see the telltale rectangular markings on your street, and/or get a notice, please let us know, as in most cases people need to know beyond those who live/work nearby.

Cars Rule July 8, 2025 (12:20 pm)

What a ridiculous waste of time and money. SDOT is a joke.

mem July 8, 2025 (12:22 pm)

Booooo! Over bumped as it is. Should have put in 4-way stop signs at Thistle and Trenton. That would have slowed down traffic and allowed safe pedestrian crossing to boot. Yes I know there’s a flasher at Trenton but a stop sign would have resolved several issues. In addition to slowing traffic and safe pedestrians crossing….turning onto 16th from Trenton can be dicey depending on time of day and how many parked cars interfere with line of sight.

Derp July 8, 2025 (1:48 pm)

There aren’t any bumps on 16th. You must be one of the hundreds that speed along 16th everyday. I just love getting tailgated down 16th because I’m doing 35, at 10 over already. More speed bumps, out in front of mem’s house.
- WSB July 8, 2025 (2:04 pm)
  
  There are speed cushions on 16th in the South Seattle College vicinity.
  - sam-c July 8, 2025 (4:29 pm)
    
    On 16th, there are at least 4 sets of speedhumps between Myrtle and the college, then 2 more sets between the college and Dawson. I hate getting tailgated too; regularly get tailgated (@30ish mph) by people in a hurry to get to campus for a 7am class. Sometimes they’re so impatient, they pass 3 cars at a time.
    - WSB July 8, 2025 (4:47 pm)
      
      I finally got the info from SDOT late today and it’s a TALL stack (in pixels, anyway) of info – more 16th cushions on the way, and elsewhere. Story to come, likely tomorrow morning.
    - Derp July 8, 2025 (5:45 pm)
      
      Ok, I was referring to the south of Holden to Roxbury. Sorry

Craig July 8, 2025 (12:26 pm)

The Beach Drive community has been asking for these cushions for years, to slow the 100% reliable nightly cars zooming at 60+mph in a 25 zone. The SDOT reason for not installing them on Beach Drive was that it was a ‘double yellow’ road could not have cushions because firetrucks could not be slowed during a response. Maybe SDOT has adopted a new philosophy.

Name July 8, 2025 (2:43 pm)

Don’t worry. SDOT will be back to spending plenty more funds on your neighborhood soon. https://westseattleblog.com/2025/01/alki-point-healthy-street-sdot-unveils-next-steps-and-survey-results/Also, the size and spacing of speed cushions is strategic. It allows emergency vehicles to pass over them without needing to slow down. It probably has more to do with lack of down-road visibility and not wanting emergency vehicles to cross yellow (to bypass cushion) and suddenly meet opposing traffic head-on.

Kyle July 8, 2025 (2:52 pm)

SDOT previously was going to install speed humps a few years ago but based off fire response times put in those traffic islands instead. Maybe the fire station changed its mind? There also planning to remove a speed hump (that was just installed when the bridge was closed) on Holden to improve fire response times.

Stradlit July 8, 2025 (3:27 pm)

@Craig,
SDOT now has several different versions of traffic calming devices.
Speed bumps were the old style that were not allowed on certain access routes.
The new “speed cushion” systems involve spaces for emergency vehicles to straddle the raised sections.

Per SDOT –
“Speed humps, cushions, and tables discourage drivers from speeding. Speed humps are raised asphalt bumps that extend across the street. Speed cushions resemble speed humps with added wheel cutouts to allow large vehicles, like buses or emergency vehicles, to pass through unaffected. These two devices are typically spaced 300-400 feet along the street. Speed tables are 12-22-foot long, flat-topped speed humps that are typically used on fire department routes.”

PDiddy July 8, 2025 (3:52 pm)

Wish they were more proactive with the RVs that have been there forever. Its only a couple now including the recent boat on a trailer but still.

k July 8, 2025 (4:39 pm)

Someone put eco blocks on Cambridge between 15th and 16th so the RVs all moved a block over, further into the neighborhood. Because eco blocks don’t solve homelessness.
- Derp July 8, 2025 (5:47 pm)
  
  No they don’t, but what about the business right there that has to deal with this issue daily. Not right for them and the neighbors that live right there.
  - K July 8, 2025 (7:36 pm)
    
    The business right there has never needed or used the spots.

Chris July 9, 2025 (8:18 am)

Now if they would only finish the 16th and Trenton NB bus stop. The sign has been propped up against a fence for months and the paint marking on the new concrete that says “bench” is slowly fading away.

Sorry, comment time is over.