Two years ago a Neighborhood Street Fund grant was approved for a traffic circle at the intersection of 9th Ave NW and NW 60th St. “There were concerns over effectively constructing a traffic circle at this oddly shaped intersection, and so alternatives were pursued,” says Dawn Heminger with the East Ballard Community Association.
The alternatives didn’t work out so earlier this year, during the East Ballard walking tour, Heminger created a “human traffic circle” in the intersection to show the Seattle Department of Transportation that although it had been two years, the neighbors still want a traffic circle.
The designs are for an oblong traffic “circle” to help slow traffic at this intersection. “Until now, NW 60th did not have any traffic calming measures between 8th and 15th and it is often used for traveling between these two arterials,” Erin Alving tells us.
Not everyone is happy about the upcoming project. “I’m just furious about this,” one neighbor told us. She’s lived near the intersection for forty years and says that while people speed, this isn’t a good solution. She says the neighborhood will lose parking spots because, she believes, parked cars will be side-swiped by drivers if they’re too close to the intersection. She wonders if speed bumps would be a more appropriate method to slow cars. “I’ve never seen a major accident at this intersection. Years ago I saw a fender bender, but that’s it,” she tells us. Despite the opposition, we’re told that work will start on the “circle” tomorrow.