You asked (again), so we asked (again): SDOT still monitoring ‘the curve’

The latest crash trouble at “the curve” toward the southwest end of the westbound West Seattle Bridge dates back some days now. But it led to questions about whether SDOT had decided what, if anything, further to do about the situation (which some claim is a pavement problem and others insist is a speeding-driver problem). So we asked for an update, and finally this week got the reply:

We’ve installed several safety treatments on the westbound West Seattle Bridge, including curve warning signs and enhanced pavement and reflective markings to improve visibility and driver awareness.

We’re also advancing additional improvements. Materials for the next set of treatments are expected to arrive later in May, and crews will move forward with installation once they’re on hand. With the upcoming FIFA-related construction pause in the public right-of-way, we’re prioritizing work that can be completed ahead of that window.

We’ll continue monitoring conditions and make further adjustments as needed to support safe travel along the corridor.

As for what the “next set of treatments” involves, that’s another followup.

Colby May 8, 2026 (4:11 pm)

The issue is obvious, there’s four factors that come into play.

1. Speed, doesn’t take much, but some.

2. Wet pavement.

3. Post-bridge closer, they replaced some sections of roadway. The new sections have gripping grooves. The old sections are smooth as a rock. These sections on the curve alternate.

4. At the curve, mid-alternating pavement sections, there’s a dip in the road, mostly on the inside curve.

Combine those all, a vehicle in the passing lane when the roads are wet, gain traction on the new section, and then lose it as soon as they hit the old section, along with the dip, which causes the vehicle to skid/fishtail.

Seth May 8, 2026 (4:42 pm)

Cue the boomers; “I’ve been living here 59 years and I’ve never crashed there!?”.Agree with your call out on all the factors. Sure people speed there, but people speed everywhere in this city. The road is uniquely unkempt in that curve. Would love to see the city fix it.
- 22blades May 9, 2026 (12:49 pm)
  
  “but people speed everywhere in this city” That’s some stunning rationalization there… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalization_of_deviance
- Tim May 9, 2026 (9:54 pm)
  
  Exactly spot on
PATRICK May 8, 2026 (4:56 pm)

Exactly right.
Nate May 8, 2026 (7:47 pm)

Bingo, this guy gets it

Dp May 8, 2026 (4:14 pm)

People just need to SLOW DOWN!!!!! If you go to fast that’s going to happen!!!!!

K May 8, 2026 (4:41 pm)

People have also lost traction and spun out here while going below the speed limit. In some cases well below. Speed may be a factor, but it’s not the only one.
- Derp May 8, 2026 (5:09 pm)
  
  Don’t you think that if there was a huge problem, there would be wrecks ALL DAY LONG. Not just every now and then. SPEED KILLS
  - Mark M May 8, 2026 (10:09 pm)
    
    Literally, every time it rains someone hits. It’s just not reported every time. You can tell because the median gets squiggly as cars hit and move the cement blocks. Next time it rains, go out late in the day or the next day and you can tell the median is no longer straight. Leaders solve problems, even problems they shouldn’t have to solve if people would just use common sense. Let’s fix the curve.
  - NotOnHolden May 9, 2026 (2:13 am)
    
    I drive this route daily, it is an absolute joke people trying to say it is the road. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the road. What I do observe daily are people passing me on that curve at over 40, 50, often times many more MPH. These same people continue to drive like this and very much not “like you live here” until they get to their own blocks, being dangerous as hell up Oregon, Alaska, Fauntleroy and all the residential streets with their own family, friends, and neighbors using the same roads. Stop making excuses for people being bad drivers that are speeding and then spreading this dangerous bad behavior all over West Seattle. This has got to stop. If you are making excuses blaming the “road” for these accidents at this point I can only assume that you are doing this same type of driving I observe daily. And while I’m on it, stop for pedestrians crossing, you all know when you are not doing it. And please leave space between cars, you rear ending my car will end up costing enough that it gets totaled and I do not need that in my life, just stop being so self centered and myopic, we are all trying to get somewhere in one piece at the end of the day.
- Jethro Marx May 8, 2026 (8:15 pm)
  
  100% of the “spin out” type of accident here involve drivers traveling too fast for conditions. This is not opinion but fact. Perhaps judgement and/or skill are the other variables you’re looking to factor in.
  - WS Person May 9, 2026 (9:49 am)
    
    100% of the “spin out” type of accident here involve drivers traveling over a multitude of different surfaces that disrupt and change the traction. This is not opinion but fact.
  - WS Person May 10, 2026 (1:23 am)
    
    100% of the “spin out” type of accident here involve the transition of a high traction surface to a slip worn suface, mid-curve, with a dip at the exact transition spot. This is not opinion but fact.
  - Wsnative May 10, 2026 (11:37 am)
    
    Nope. its 100% due to the road condition. Easy way to tell is look at the vehicles that spin trucks and SUVs not sedans. why you might ask, because they tend to have stiffer suspension that exaggeration the bumps that reduce the traction on the polished rock of the non repaved sections if they ran a grater through the problem would be completely solved. For the incidents caused by rain. Ive had the front end of my work van slip out doing well under the speed limit in light rain. I could do that same thing in my personal sedan at well over the speed limit without issue because it doesnt bounce like big vehicles.

Carole May 8, 2026 (4:52 pm)

Analyze the way you drive. Not the roads.

K May 9, 2026 (5:22 am)

If it was only bad driving, the spinouts would happen all day, every day. Not just when it rains. They would also happen on every road in Seattle, and not be concentrated on just that one spot.
Actualperson May 10, 2026 (6:26 am)

Why are you afraid of analyzing the roads?

ITotallyAgreeWithYou May 8, 2026 (5:10 pm)

I’d like clarity and transparency on the ambiguously mentioned “additional improvements” and “”materials”. We do need more signs, pavement markings…brochures…an app…lip service… fix the street! And now they delay it by hiding behind fifa as if we haven’t been asking for action for months.

nothend May 8, 2026 (6:14 pm)

If you google longitudinal pavment grooving and the effects of tramlining you get this: If longitudinal pavement grooves end before a curve ends, the sudden transition from a high-traction, high-drainage surface to a standard surface—especially on a curve—can cause a significant reduction in friction, leading to a high risk of vehicle control issues, particularly for motorcycles and in wet weather. [1, 2, 3, 4]The abrupt termination of these grooves can cause several issues:

Sudden Loss of Cornering Traction: While longitudinal grooves provide excellent water drainage and improve friction in wet weather, they are also designed to increase cornering ability by providing “side force”. If they end prematurely, drivers may experience a sudden decrease in stability.
Hydroplaning Risk in Curves: Longitudinal grooves prevent hydroplaning by giving water an escape path. If the grooves end while a vehicle is still within the curve, water can become trapped under the tires, significantly increasing the likelihood of hydroplaning.
Unstable Handling (Tramlining): As grooves terminate, a vehicle or motorcycle that was “tracking” or following the grooves (a phenomenon known as tramlining) may feel a sudden wiggle or “steer” in an unexpected direction.
Increased Risk of Wet-Weather Accidents: Studies have shown that longitudinal grooving decreases wet-pavement accident rates by over 70%. Removing this safety feature early in a curve restores the original, lower-friction state, increasing the risk of, particularly on the outer lanes, loss of control.

Mark M May 8, 2026 (10:12 pm)

Also the proper cornering technique is to brake ahead of the corner and accelerate at the apex and through the turn. Where you are supposed to accelerate, the cement suddenly turns to glass. It’s a s**t design road, let’s not mince words. The city needs to fix the problem that it created.
Jethro Marx May 8, 2026 (11:43 pm)

AI slop to say, conditions require slower speeds to navigate the road safely.

King Solomon May 8, 2026 (8:50 pm)

Solomon checking in and seeking to smote the rancor by suggesting that all viewpoints expressed here giveth pause for reflection. The gaslighting pharaohs at SDOT surely do not speak in tongues when they uttereth, “Lo! Is not excessive speed a handmaiden to these crashes?” Verily, there is no need to split another baby in half to see the wisdom here. Solomon also acknowledges that switching from a grooved pavement to a worn down slick one at a notable curve is not quite a plague of frogs upon the land but a poor decision nonetheless, coming as it does immediately after a wide open three-lane road where chariots are already traveling at higher speeds. Over the many hundreds of years of his life, Solomon has driven various models of AWD and FWD chariots on this stretch of road, on dry pavement at wholesome speeds, and felt a shudder in his axle on many occasions. Solomon’s subjects and dozens of his wives vouchsafe the same. Solomon has counseled his subjects to stay their wrath at the pharaohs by pointing out the pharaohs did not build a few extra panels of grooved pavement as sensible design would dictate, but in their wisdom added a spinout lane in front of the West Seattle sign, that traffic may continue to moveth after such crashes. It is a compromise that will not satisfy all but which must be endured until a solution can be found in five years and implemented five years after that.

T Rex May 9, 2026 (7:49 am)

Thank you for the best post of the year!

CW May 9, 2026 (7:18 am)

Granted, I have a low sitting sedan with excellent traction but here’s the thing: folks seem to think you HAVE to be either on the gas or the breaks. However, you can be off both which allows you to get through this portion of the bridge without any trouble. I’ve seen it, folks go into the curve, fast or slow, and hit the gas because you know it’s uphill! Never fails.

Al May 9, 2026 (8:19 am)

To everyone who believes that all speeders on this curve are merely getting what they had coming —what do you think about when emergency vehicles also spin out? Is it really your position that there is no circumstance where speeding should be possible on this road, so any ambulance driver who crashes is just getting what they deserved for being a filthy car brained rule breaker?

Ron Osborne May 11, 2026 (1:24 pm)

Why not put up signage showing your speed & a slow down flash. Then when there’s a crash – it will prove that speed IS the factor.

WS Person May 11, 2026 (6:36 pm)

No. It won’t show that speed is the factor. It might be part of it but the bigger factor and cause is the road suface, the change in traction, and the dip in the road.It’s amazing to me that so many refuse to put any culpability on the city or state. People speed everywhere, but don’t spin out at every curve.

Sorry, comment time is over.