Update from SDOT’s Dongho Chang on their safety review of 5th Ave NE (after the tragic accident in April that took the life of Sandhya Khadka):
“I have conducted a safety review of the corridor on 5th Avenue NE between NE 130th Street and NE Northgate Way (NE 110th Street). 5th Avenue NE is classified as a collector arterial street with a 30 mph speed limit. The segment is approximately one mile in length, generally has a 60 feet right of way with 40 feet roadway (parking permitted on both sides, one lane of traffic in each direction, planting strip/sidewalks/curbs/lighting), and widens to 90 feet right of way near 112th Street with 66 feet roadway. Metro routes 41 and 242 serve the community with stops on 5th Avenue NE. There are marked crosswalks at NE 130th St, NE 123rd St, NE 117th St, NE 115th St, NE 112th St, and NE Northgate Way. 5th Avenue NE carries 12,800 vehicles per day just north of NE Northgate Way.
A total 45 reported collisions occurred during the latest three year period within this one mile section (which is relatively low compared with other arterial streets).
- Two most common collision types are angle (18 total, 40% of the collisions) and rear-end (9 total, 20% of the collisions).
- Most of the angle collisions occurred at the intersections of 5th Ave NE and NE 125th St (8 collisions) and at 5th Ave NE and the NE 130th St off-ramp (5 collisions). These two locations also had the highest number of total collision in the segment.
- One pedestrian collision occurred at NE 115th Street resulting in a fatality. (A vehicle backing up and striking another car at 127th Street is mislabeled as a pedestrian collision in the summary report. We will correct this in our database).
The collision review indicates that 5th Avenue NE at NE 125th Street and NE 130th Street need additional attention. The angle collisions at NE 125th Street all involved westbound NE 125th Street drivers colliding with northbound 5th Avenue NE drivers. We will review sightlines to reduce these collisions. The collisions occurring between I-5 off ramp and NE 130th Street involve off ramp drivers colliding with 5th Avenue NE drivers. We will be working with Sound Transit to reconfigure the off ramp as part of the light rail project to eliminate these type of collisions at this location.”
Wondering if SDOT did the speeding study they had promised they would do before the year end. This looks like it is looking only at collisions. I think most of us are more concerned about pedestrian safety. Even one pedestrian death is one too many and I will continue to fight for pedestrian safety improvements to 115th. There is no marked crosswalk at 115th (though this report says there is) Makes one wonder what other errors there are in this report.
I agree Sue, that summary sounds terrible and misses the point. People drive way too fast on that road, and it is obvious why. It is extremely wide, and there are no stop lights for a very long way. This encourages people to drive very fast, and it encourages them to weave, which is extremely dangerous for pedestrians. Someone could be stopped waiting for a pedestrian, and then someone else drives around that car (assuming the driver stopped to make a turn) and slams into a pedestrian. The city should do something about it, before there is another fatality.
My experience on NE 125th westbound makes me believe that people are allowed to park on 5th ave way too close to that intersection, making it very difficult for those seeking to get across the intersection to see what/who is coming from the south.