Pothole Ranger repairing a Seattle street, 2003. Photo via Seattle Municipal Archives.

In the wake of last week’s winter storm, the City of Seattle is focusing on roadway repairs. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has deployed four Pothole Ranger crews to address potholes created by the recent freezing weather.

“Freezing weather and heavy precipitation mean that we’re seeing more potholes. We’ve added dollars to respond to pothole repair requests,” Mayor Mike McGinn said in a press release.

The Office of the Mayor sent the following information:

As last week’s winter storm began winding down, City officials started making preparations to deal with the storm’s effects, including an expected increase in the number of potholes. As crews finished their snow and ice removal work, SDOT began redeploying resources to fill potholes.

These efforts build on work done in 2011 to address potholes and street repairs. SDOT crews filled 25,110 potholes in 2011, two and a half times the number filled in 2010. With the start of the new year, the department has $9 million available to address street surface repairs including potholes. Approximately $8.5 million of this is dedicated to arterial streets.

Mayor McGinn and the City Council allocated $3 million last year to surface repairs from “Rubble Yard” sales funds. In 2011, SDOT focused on streets with frequent reports of potholes and delivered 15.8 lane-miles of paving across 86 sites, more than a fourfold increase over historic levels. As drivers can attest, the work provided an immediate relief from potholes and should result in fewer roadway issues at those locations. An additional $1.65 million in “Rubble Yard” funds has been committed this year, for a total budget of $8.5 million, to further support major arterial maintenance needs.   

Potholes are a sign of aging infrastructure, and occur when street pavement cracks and breaks because of water and traffic. During the winter, water under the pavement can freeze and expand, and then thaw and contract. This freeze/thaw cycle can cause old pavement to crack so that it deteriorates quickly under the weight of traffic, and then streets seem to break out in potholes overnight. Work by the Pothole Rangers helps address any isolated trouble spots and prevents deterioration of the remaining street surface. 

Seattle citizens can report potholes by calling 206-684-ROAD (7623) or online.  Residents can track pothole requests outstanding and filled by visiting the City’s pothole map.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2012.

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Post tags: traffic

By 9:03 a.m., the branch was cleared.

Phil at Revolutions Espresso shared this picture with us:

Metro Transit sent out this alert at 7:36 a.m.:

Route 48 is currently unable to serve the northbound portion of its routing along NE Raveena Blvd near Green Lake.

Use the stops east of NE 65 St & Weedin Pl NE or north of NE 70 St & NE Raveena Blvd.

Southbound routing is not affected.

Route 48 has now returned to regular routing.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2012.

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Post tags: traffic

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: parks and rec, traffic

A man is in critical condition after he was apparently struck by a vehicle this afternoon (Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011) at N 79 St. at Aurora Ave N, KIRO 7 reports:

The man, in his 20s, suffered multiple injuries and was taken to Harborview Medical Center after rescuers performed CPR for about a half hour, the [Fire] department said.

KIRO 7 has photos of the scene here.

Medics were first called to the scene at 3:29 p.m.

At 4:00 p.m., the Seattle Department of Transportation tweeted that the northbound and southbound lanes of Aurora Ave N were blocked by emergency vehicles; at 4:51 p.m., KOMO Newsradio tweeted that lanes in both directions at Aurora and N 80th were still blocked. PhinneyWood reported that Seattle Police are diverting traffic onto Green Lake Way.

Eyewitness Sheryl Stich, who was driving on Aurora Ave N at the time of the incident, says that a fire hydrant was knocked over, apparently as a result of the crash.

Update, 9:37 p.m.:

From the SPD Blotter:

Vehicle/pedestrian collision in North Seattle

Posted by Detective Jeff Kappel

On December 27th at approximately 3:28 p.m. officers responded to 911 calls of a vehicle/pedestrian collision with injuries in the 7900 block of Aurora Avenue North.  Preliminary investigation indicates that a male pedestrian in his 20′s was walking northbound in the 7900 block of Aurora Avenue North on the east side sidewalk.  An adult male driver was also traveling northbound in the 7900 block of Aurora Avenue North in a Jeep SUV.

For reasons yet to be determined, the driver veered off the roadway and onto the sidewalk.  The driver struck the pedestrian who then struck his head on a steel-beamed store sign.  The vehicle continued on, striking a fire hydrant and coming to rest after striking a telephone pole head on.

SFD medics responded to the scene and transported the pedestrian to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.  The driver was not injured and declined medical attention.

Officers interviewed the driver and released him from the scene pending further investigation.  There were no citations issued at the scene, which is standard procedure in serious traffic collisions requiring extensive follow-up investigation and collision reconstruction.

Northbound Aurora Avenue was closed to one lane of travel for approximately 90 minutes while officers and detectives conducted their on-scene investigation.

Traffic Collision Investigation Squad detectives responded to the scene and continue to actively investigate.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: aurora, traffic

The street will remain open to traffic, but the lanes will be shifted to one side.  On-street parking will be restricted. Crosswalks and sidewalks will remain open.

Doug Bambrick, who has been a long-time advocate for a “road diet” on Linden Ave N, is hosting a community meeting about the street early this week.

Doug would like to see more room for pedestrians, as well a bike lanes, on Linden Ave N. He is hopeful that a community group can work together to communicate with SDOT about the re-striping that is done on the street following the paving project.

If you would like more information about the community meeting, please contact Doug at seattlejz [at] yahoo.com.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: cycling, traffic

KIRO 7 is reporting that a man was killed early Sunday morning (October 16, 2011) when the car he was driving flew off I-5′s 85th St exit overpass and landed on its top in the highway’s southbound lanes.

Police at the scene told KIRO 7 that Eric Rouleau, 40, lost control of his vehicle, smashed through a guardrail and landed upside down on the highway.

According to KIRO 7′s report, it isn’t clear whether drugs or alcohol factored in the crash.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: I-5, traffic

Two vehicles collided on Woodlawn Ave N & N 54th St earlier this evening (Thursday, October 13, 2011).

According to a Seattle Police Report, police investigated the crash shortly after 6:30 p.m.

The Seattle Fire Department’s 911 Dispatch logs do not indicate that an emergency response was sent by the city to the scene.

Tangletown resident and frequent My Green Lake commenter “Horseknuckle” sent us this report:

So, admittedly, my details on this are going to be sketchy because I had to find out about it from the domestic partner, who came home and then 30 minutes later said, “Oh, yeah, by the way . . . .”  I screamed at him on your behalf.  When he passed by, there were 2 cop cars, the van was still on its side, and people were milling about.  Like I said, apparently no one was hurt, and the van, despite ending up on its side, had very little damage.  The van was, however, pushed all the way on to the sidewalk on the northeast corner.  Even after they flipped it back over, it was still mostly on the sidewalk, glass everywhere.

Horseknuckle sent these photos that he took at the scene of the crash:

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: traffic

Photo courtesy Julie S.

A car crashed into at least three parked vehicles early this morning (Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011) in east Green Lake.

The car, a Buick sedan, ended up on its roof in the 7400 block of Latona Ave NE.

According to 9-1-1 dispatch records, eight emergency response units were called the scene at 2:04 a.m. Traffic in both directions was blocked off by police.

Julie S., who witnessed the aftermath of the crash, says that she and several of her neighbors were woken up by the incident.

“One could pretty much surmise someone had lost control of their Buick at a relatively high rate of speed and had pretty much taken out several vehicles just off Woodlawn heading east on Latona,” Julie says.

“[The Buick's] driver’s side airbag had deployed and there was various engine fluids leaking,” she says.

Two of the cars that were hit by the Buick were owned by Josh Puetz and his partner Sean. After speaking to police, Josh tweeted the following:

Josh spent the day today dealing with the damage to his family’s two vehicles. He asked us to add this note of appreciation for the Seattle Police Department: “Officer Simmons from the North Precinct deserves a nice shout out for his help.”

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: traffic

At 9:23 p.m. this evening (Thursday, Sept. 29, 2011), we received a tip from a woman who identified herself as “Heidi” about a car crash on Green Lake Way near the Green Lake Pitch and Putt golf course.

Heidi reported that both directions of Green Lake Way N were closed to traffic due to the incident, which involved two cars that crashed head-on.

9-1-1 dispatch records confirm that a fire engine was sent to 5700 East Green Lake Way N at 9:06 p.m. Another fire engine and a medic were dispatched six minutes later.

As of 9:39 p.m., the incident has not been closed by emergency dispatch.

We’ll update this post with more information as it becomes available.

Update, 10:50 p.m. Seattle Fire Department spokesperson Kyle Moore confirms that two cars hit head-on. One patient is in stable condition after being transported to Harborview Medical Center with a hip injury. According to Moore, a second patient may have been transported by an American Medical Response (AMR) ambulance. If so, Moore says, this patient likely had minor injuries.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: medical emergency, traffic

Crews from the Seattle Department of Transportation will be doing maintenance work on the center islands at East Green Lake Way N & N 64th St tomorrow (Friday, September 9, 2011), 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

While work on the center islands is being done, the bicycle turn lane across East Green Lake Way N that goes through the island will be closed. All other crosswalks and sidewalks will remain open.

There will be a police officer at the intersection to assist traffic.

The center islands at this intersection were installed when a traffic signal was built in late 2007 / early 2008. At that time, the islands were filled with soil. However, no plantings were made, due to a lack of funds.

Since then, weeds have grown on the islands, sometimes to great heights.

I have a call in to SDOT about the nature of the work being done tomorrow and will update this post when I have more information.

Update, Friday, 10:10 a.m.: SDOT spokesperson Marybeth Turner reports that the medians will be paved with asphalt.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: cycling, traffic