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Have a question about our current work at SDOT? We’re ready to get you an answer! Post your question here and we’ll post a response during normal business hours as soon as we can track down the answer. (Complex questions will take longer to address, so please expect a response via e-mail.)
Please remember to be courteous and keep the language clean. We’ll review questions before they post to be sure they meet our blog use policy, but we won’t edit them. If you are in need of an immediate answer to a time sensitive question, please call 684-ROAD (684-7623).
There is an on going traffic safety issue in front of the Caroline Kline Galland Home on 7500 Seward Park Av S. There are cars parked on both sides of the street in front of the home. I suspect they belong to construction workers and staff. There is ongoing construction work at the home. Cars ROUTINELY cross into oncoming traffic. There have been numerous sideswipe instances with the parked cars. It is only a matter of time until there is a serious accident. This issue has been presented to the mayor in at least one of his town halls.
Does SDOT intend to do anything about this situation? Wpuld complaining to the city council help?
Thank you for your query. Your concern was forwarded to our Traffic Operations section. As field investigation and analysis will be required, it may be 7 to 10 business/working days before you receive an answer which will be sent directly to your email. Thanks for your patience!
Why is an SDOT concrete truck staging its hose down in front of my house on NE 63rd Street? I did environmental work for SPU and DCLU for 15 + years. Sure it’s a combined sewer but is it really your policy to have concrete slurry go down the storm drain?
We take questions about environmental impacts very seriously and will contact you directly to gather more information on the incident. You will receive an e-mail from Jane Rebelowski of SDOT today on this matter.
Hi –
The 200 block of East John Street between Bellevue Ave East and Summit Ave East is no parking on both sides with the exception of one 30 minute loading zone on the south east side.
However, the signage is very poor and recently the parking enforcement officers have told me they will not write tickets because of the poor signage.
Currently there are 13 cars parked on the north side of the street which causes severe issues when two cars meet in the middle.
Can there be more signs put up?
Your question is being handled by our Traffic Operations section. You should receive a direct response within 7 to 10 business/work days.
Last year, July 5 to be exact, I asked:
What is the budgeted cost of the 15th Avenue NE Reconstruction Project? What is the actual final cost? Are individual project costs posted on your website?
You replied:
The budget for the total project (which includes 15th Ave NE work, N 34 St repaving and NE 55th St repaving) is $10.2 million. The work is still underway and the actual final cost will be available once the work is fully completed. Project costs are typically posted when there is significant public interest in a project, its costs and funding sources.
The project now appears to completed, and the results are excellent. So what was the final cost? Is it posted?
Although the project appears complete, the work on 15th Ave NE was combined in the same contract as paving work on N 34th St in Fremont and NE 55th St in Ravenna. On N 34th, some of the asphalt repairs have yet to be completed and are scheduled for spring when warmer temperatures are more conducive to asphalt paving. In conjunction with that, final project records are still pending the completion of this contract work. That being said, based on spending to date, we are pleased to report that the project is on track to be completed approximately $1M below the initial estimate of $10.2M. Those savings are reinvested immediately into future paving projects such as Ravenna Blvd planned for later this spring.
I was disappointed during the Spokane Viaduct closure this morning that there was no traffic control present. Although 99% of the cars followed the rules, dozens drove in the bus only lane bypassing people who had been waiting up to an hour. When a major freeway is closed it would be nice to have some police or traffic control presence.
We appreciate your comments and your patience. We agree that the traffic situation was truly unpleasant and are working to resolve the problems that occurred that day. In hindsight, we realize that we hadn’t provided sufficient advance notice of the closure, which then was a contributing factor to the size of the congestion. So we will also be providing more notification to the public through additional community and media outlets.
SDOT:
West Seattle is a mess today. Why was there no signage warning about the Eastbound lane closures? This is the primary route in and out of Seattle, and there was not temporary signage regarding the closure, nor is there any mention of it on your “drive time” reader boards. There isn’t even a mention of the closure on your website! I think I can speak for thousands of people in West Seattle in saying that we are very disappointed. We are already enduring these projects: 99 tunnel, Spokane Street Viaduct widening, Fauntleroy Expressway seismic work, Airport Way S. bridge rebuild – which are making traffic unbearable on a daily basis. Now this?
We, SDOT, sincerely apologize for failing to provide adequate warning of last Saturday’s closure of the eastbound lanes on the Spokane Street Viaduct. We understand that this lack of clear notification caused you and others much grief. We have identified additional signage that will allow us to address this notification issue for future closures. Although there was signage on the West Seattle Freeway, going forward we will also post signs in advance of the eastbound on-ramps in West Seattle so that motorists can choose to use alternate routes. In addition, we will post signs on the bridge warning of the impending closure several days in advance of its start so that regular bridge users will have ample time to plan ahead. Although two official traffic advisories were released to all news media outlets last week announcing the weekend closure of the eastbound lanes, clearly they did not reach enough people. We must and will do a better job of getting the word out for all future closures.
The Spokane Street Viaduct Widening project is about 80 percent finished and should be substantially complete by mid-summer. Remaining work, particularly the repair and resurfacing of the old structure, will be challenging and will involve multiple short-term traffic configurations, road and ramp closures, and detours. To keep you up to date on these changes, we will update the project website (http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/transportation/spokanestreet.htm) every Thursday with the latest traffic information. If you are not already on the project listserv, please consider signing up to receive the latest project notifications. You can do so by completing a form at the bottom of the project page listed above.
Again, we are truly sorry for any inconvenience you may have suffered last Saturday. We understand what went wrong and will do everything we can to prevent this from occurring again.
Thank you for your understanding
Hi! i have a ford F150 2wheel drive. Can snow chains be put on all for wheels or just the drive wheels. thank you marvin
Your best bet is to contact a Ford dealer near you.
Would like to find out the grade in % slope of:
4th Ave N between Dexter Ave N and Newell St
and
4th Ave N between Newell St and Queen Ann Drive
any help would be appreciated
Unfortunately, the information about Seattle’s streets is so voluminous that it is only available in hard copy in our office called “the Vault.” You must come in and research our documents in person. The Vault is located on the 47th floor of the Seattle Municipal Tower (which is on 5th Avenue between Columbia and Cherry Streets). The office phone number is 684-5132.
George … this should help you … simply enter the two streets and it will tell you the grade of the hill inbetween
http://veloroutes.org/hillgradecalculator/?loc1=5rd+%26+james+seattle%2C+wa&loc2=6th+%26+james+seattle%2C+wa&units=e
How can I get accurate pedestrian and bicycle injury and fatality statistics for my neighborhood for the past 5 years? I would like stats that are more precise than what can be derived from the SDOT maps that are online (the ones that use varying sized dots). Thank you.
Our Public Disclosure Coordinator will contact you directly as more specifics about cross streets etc are needed.
Could you PLEASE re-paint the line striping on the westbound, temporary lanes of the Spokane Street Viaduct? The lines are completely gone and drivers unfamiliar with the route are driving down the middle of the two lanes! Thanks
You probably have noticed that the lanes markings were painted this past week.
The light timing at NE 130th St and 5th Ave NE seems to be too short. Traffic traveling northbound and southbound on 5th Ave NE have about 30 seconds of green light, while traffic traveling east and west along 130th only have a 15 second light. This has been going on for a few weeks, and traffic has been backing up throughout the day. Is the light timing correct?
SDOT recently replaced an older traffic signal controller with a newer controller, due to the difficulty in finding replacement parts for the older controller. We tried to keep the timing unchanged as much as possible. Unfortunately, it’s not unusual to discover there are a few bugs in the system when new software is installed and that is what occurred in this case. We believe we have now found and fixed all the problems.
We appreciate your patience while we worked our way through the transition.
If we see a car driving with lots of exhaust, who do we report this? It is polluting so bad.
create apps
Thank you for your inquiry and please accept our apologies for a delay in responding. We checked with the Seattle Police Department (SPD). SDP will stop a car that has a lot of exahust.
You may find more useful information here: http://www.dmv.org/wa-washington/smog-check.php
Is there any chance that a painted crosswalk could be installed at the intersection of Broadway and Terrace Streets? This is a busy crossing due to the Neighborhood to the East, the Metro Bus Stop as well as people just going to Harborview.
Currently there is a flashing-embedded light crosswalk at Terrace and Boren … but nothing (not even stripes) on Broadway.
Cars heading South rarely stop for pedestrians as they are trying to race to make the light at the intersection of Broadway and Boren. Furthermore, the center turn lane becomes a left-turn lane (just south of Terrace St.) onto Boren … but people race down this lane to pass other cars. This all makes it very dangerous to cross the street.
I realize that simply painting the crosswalk lines wont solve all the inattentive driver problems … but they would help (especially since the Streetcar stop will be located at this same spot in the near future.
Similarly … there are a number of un-signaled intersections on Boren (Cherry & Columbia) … it would be fantastic if cross-walk lines could be painted there as well … or at the very least signs telling drivers to stop for crossing pedestrians. People treat that part of Boren as a speedway (between the traffic light at Marion & at James) … and there are a lot of elderly/disabled people trying to get to the various hospitals on First Hill.
Thanx!
Thank you for your inquiry and please accept our apologies for a delay in responding. We have forwarded your inquiry to SDOT staff. An answer to your question will be sent directly to you, however, please note that it will likely be several days before you hear from the department. Your patience is appreciated!
when will the construction of the First Hill Streetcar begin, specifically the portion between Madison and Boren
Streetcar construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2012. At this point, we don’t have information to share on specific locations. As we get closer to construction, we will be notifying residents and businesses along the pathway.
Why is the left turn arrow for eastbound traffic turning into Fisherman’s Terminal not working at the intersection of W Emerson and 19th Ave W? It has been installed for several years but is not activated. The traffic travelling westbound on W Emerson is on a blind curve and near-misses are all too common at this intersection. Please reactivate this left turn arrow! Thanks.
We forwarded your inquiry to our engineers and you should be receiving a direct reply shortly. Thank you for your patience.