From Thomas Mercer:
There is a traffic safety issue at the intersection of Roosevelt and NE 114th St. (east from Roosevelt). I called Seattle’s Neighborhood Traffic Department today and notified them that vehicles are often (almost always) parked immediately north and south of NE 114th St. on Roosevelt (across the street from the Great Dog shop). The parked cars are usually less than 30 feet from the intersection and due to the layout and elevation differences, make it extremely difficult for anyone attempting to turn onto Roosevelt from NE 114th St. to see oncoming traffic. The result is that cars turning onto Roosevelt from NE 114th often cause near misses due to the inability to see oncoming traffic or the need to pull out into traffic to see.
I suggested that it may be a simple matter of enforcing the city ordnance requiring vehicles park more than 30 feet from the intersection, but it may be necessary to place signs (i.e. “no parking south of here”) more than 30 feet from the intersection to ensure that visibility is protected.
As you know there is often lots of traffic that is headed for the Display and Costume Store. Because you can no longer turn direct from northbound Roosevelt/Pinehurst Way into the Display and Costume parking lot, drivers coming from both north and south approach on Pinehurst Way to NE 114th Street, then west on NE 114th St. to turn south on Roosevelt. While not technically an arterial, this route gets quite a bit of traffic around holidays when people are shopping for decorations and gets a fair amount of daily traffic for the businesses that are on Roosevelt north of Pinehurst Way. I have nothing against these businesses and it appears that they have good parking options both onsite and on the street in the area. We just need the sightlines at the intersection in question to be preserved.
If you want to post this on the blog and let people know that they can chime in by calling the Neighborhood Traffic Department at 233-0033 and reference customer inquiry number 11412, that would be great. Reportedly this is under investigation and some kind of result will be obtained in 3-4 weeks.
I was driving through this intersection a couple of days ago and, because there were cars parked right up to the corner, I couldn’t see in either direction. A man in a van parked there waved me out since he could see. When I got around the corner I saw that he was in a SDOT vehicle, writing up tickets. Cool.
The same problem exists at Roosevelt and 115th. I’ve come close to being hit there many times because parked cars block the sight lines.
Email I received today about this issue:
Date: Fri, 28 May 2010 12:24:25 -0700
From: Conrad, Gretchen
Dear Mr. Mercer:
Thank you for contacting us regarding your initial concern regarding parking along NE 114th St and Roosevelt Way NE. I have spoken to the investigators and due to the particular nature of your request, we will need more time to investigate and respond to you. If you do not hear from a staff person within four weeks, you may contact us by e-mail or call (206) 684-7583.
Again, thank you for contacting SDOT.
Sincerely,
Gretchen Conrad, Traffic Operations
Seattle Department of Transportation
SDOT’s response:
Dear Mr. Mercer:
Thank you for writing to the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) regarding a parking restriction on Roosevelt Way NE and NE 114th Street. SDOT shares your concern with wanting our street system to operate safely for all users.
We have completed a review of this intersection and there have been two recorded collisions at this intersection in the past four (4) years. Like all intersections with stop signs, we suggest that after coming to a full stop, motorists are permitted to “inch” out to gain a better view of oncoming traffic when entering the roadway. Motorists can then proceed when it is safe to enter the cross street.
SDOT is investigating the possibility of installing new bicycle sharrows along Roosevelt Way NE at NE 114th Street in the near future. The installation will also include new parking edge lines; it provides visual aide to the east/west movement. Due to the low accident rate at this intersection, we will not provide any additional parking restrictions at this intersection.
Again, thank you for your inquiry. Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions or concerns at ellie.rangel@seattle.gov or (206) 684-0813.
Sincerely,
Ellie L. Rangel, Traffic Operations
Seattle Department of Transportation