BACK TO SCHOOL: Here’s when SDOT plans to activate new school-zone-speed cameras in Admiral

| Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Though school starts a week from today, SDOT‘s new California Avenue SW school-zone-speed cameras near West Seattle High School and Lafayette Elementary won’t be in operation right at the start. We’ve been asking SDOT for an update on the cameras’ status, and just got it:

We expect to activate school zone safety camera near West Seattle High School on California Ave SW in the southbound direction mid-September. The northbound camera for West Seattle High School is expected to be activated mid-October due to more complex construction methods at the location.

SDOT is also installing speed cameras on Admiral Way near Alki Elementary, but won’t be activating them until the rebuilt school at 3010 59th SW opens in fall 2026. Here’s the list of schools that already have these cameras (including five in West Seattle). We first mentioned the new cameras’ locations in city-budget coverage almost a year ago.

T August 27, 2025 (7:38 pm)

This is fantastic news. Hopefully a few $237 tickets will force reckless drivers to finally change their behavior.

Mellow Kitty August 28, 2025 (5:46 am)

Can we have these all year round? California Ave has been an impromptu speedway far too long.

Jennifer August 28, 2025 (6:44 am)

Great there will be cameras to enforce the speed limit around the school area. Will the cameras be capturing plates 24/7 and issuing tickets? In July, I got a ticket in the mail from the city of Kenmore. At 9:30pm on a Thursday, I was going a few miles over the posted speed limit for the “school zone” even tho it was night time. Ugh.