Suicide Hill Gets A 4 Way Stop At 41st and 43rd

 Laurelhurst Community Club (LCC) posted this information in a recent newsletter about the busy intersection of Suicide Hill, with a huge blind drop and hidden driveways and alleys, getting a 4-way stop to slow down traffic:

4-Way STOP forSafety, School Zones Installed at NE 41st Street and 43rd Avenue NE

The busy intersection at NE 41st Street and 43rd Avenue NE was finally made safer with the addition of an official 4-way stop. For years, LCC has contacted the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) for help to make with the dangerous intersection. 

Neighbors and LCC worked with Councilmember Pedersen’s office to request a safety review of the intersection, completed in May 2021 An SDOT civil engineer from the Transportation Operation’s Center reviewed the traffic volume and noted the high rates of speed that occur daily down on the steep NE 41st Street. 

The new stop signs will slow down speeders and make the intersection safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, vehicles, and neighbors.  Several attempts have been made to remove the new signs.

In addition, new flashing school signs were installed to alert drivers of the School Zone on NE 45th Street. 

The Laurelhurst Community Club, (LCC), has been working on this major safety hazard for many years. SDOT installed a reduced speed sign and a yellow blinking light in the past to calm speeds in 2013, shortly after a car travelling at a high rate of speed unfortunately hit a dog.

A neighbor who lives two blocks from the dangerous intersection said that he has heard numerous accidents from his house.

Neighbors have requested over the years for the City to install speed bumps or traffic calming always with the same response of no. The reason is because this street is a main arterial and emergency vehicles need access. Neighbors also contacted the City about conducting a traffic study.

Car Broken Into On Boulevard And Defibrillator Taken

The Laurelhurst Blog received this information:

The back window of our SUV was smashed on Saturday night, March 18, on 43rd Avenue NE and NE 41st Street.  

A grey Puma backpack with my husband's defibrillator which was in a red case was taken.  

If you happen to see either dumped somewhere please email Laurelhurstblogger@gmail.com.

.

Multiple Car Break-Ins On/Near Boulevard (43rd Avenue NE), Resident Gets License Plate Number, Also SPD Tips

The Laurelhurst Blog has received numerous reports of car break-ins and car prowls recently, especially in the vicinity of the Boulevard, 43rd Avenue NE.

Last night, a resident on the Boulevard, caught two males in the act of breaking into a car and reported this information to the Laurelhurst Blog, which includes a license plate number:

I live on NE 44th Street and 43rd Avenue NE.  Last night, after midnight, I was getting back from work and as I was getting out of my car I saw 2 Caucasian males in their late teens/early 20s smoking cigarettes and walking down my street.  They turned and walked down an alley.   

About 15 minutes later, about 12:30am, I saw one of them shining his IPhone up to car windows on my street and he opened the door to one of them and rummaged through the glove compartment.   

I walked out into my front yard and shouted "what are you doing??"  The guy ignored me and continued to walk to the end of my street which is a dead end.  His car was parked there.   

He got in a silver Toyota 4 door sedan--license plate was AXS1889 or AXS1887...WA state plates.   

I called the police as he drove right past me.  About 2 minutes later, the second person emerged from the alley as the silver Toyota came back to pick him up.  

He was wearing a backpack (probably to put all of the stolen items in). The car then sped off.   

I had called the police and they were here within 10-15 minutes.  They noticed another vehicle had also been broken into on 43rd Avenue NE.  

If anyone sees this silver Toyota around the neighborhood please alert the police.  If you see people walking around our neighborhood at weird hours of the night they may not have the best of intentions. Stay on the lookout.

 

A nearby neighbor to the person who reported the above incident, said that also last night around 1am, he was woken up by the Seattle Police.

He said:

The Police were called by a neighbor who saw 2 guys checking cars on the Boulevard and  NE 42nd Street for unlocked doors with cell phone flash light. He confronted one guy and they sped off.  

The police noticed one of our car doors open and knocked on our door. We stupidly left a car unlocked again. Glove box contents, center console and so forth chucked all over the place, but otherwise no damage.

 

The Laurelhurst Blog reported this car break-in last week on April 22nd, at 43rd Avenue NE and NE 43rd Street.  

The following day another resident reported a car break-in saying: 

After reading the entry on the car prowl in the Laurelhurst Blog, I double checked my wife's car, parked on NE 44th Street.  

It was also rifled through. The glove box and a storage compartment had been emptied onto the seat, though I didn't find anything missing. Even a small bag of change and GPS unit were not removed.

I also noticed a blue glove left on the floor, presumably used so that prints would not be left. 

Anyways, it's somewhat disconcerting, and clearly the thief tried cars on several streets.

And again on April 22nd, a resident in the same area, reported another car-prowl to the Laurelhurst Blog:

We live on the 3800 block of 44th Avenue NE and my husband's locked car was broken into and change was taken.  I also heard of other car break ins last Wednesday night/Thursday morning.   

I'm curious about the neighborhood Security Patrol that we pay for and how it plans to help curtain what seems to be an increasing incidence of these events.

The SPD website says:

You are more likely to be a victim of a vehicle crime than any other crime reported to the Seattle Police Department. An experienced Car Prowler or Thief can gain access to your car in virtually seconds. 

In less than 30 seconds, someone could break into a parked car. Most car prowls themselves take less than two minutes. The damage done to locks and windows can be very expensive to repair and cause great inconvenience.  a car prowl can take less than a minute and can cause thousands of dollars in damage.

Here are SPD's car prowl prevention tips:  

• Don't leave any items in plain view in your vehicle. Even in a secure garage.
• Take all valuables with you when you park.
• Remove or hide anything that a car prowler might mistake as something worth stealing.
• If valuables must be left behind, hide them out of sight several blocks away before parking.
• Disable internal trunk releases per your owner's instruction manual.
• Audible alarms or other theft deterrent devices can be effective.
• When you exit or enter your parked vehicle, stop and take a look around the area.
• Before leaving your parked car, always remove the keys, roll up the windows and lock the car.
• Make a habit of locking your garage door and car doors.
• If possible, store your car in a closed and locked garage.
• If your car is stored in a carport or parked near your house, leave your exterior lights on throughout the night.
• If you park on the street, choose a well-lit, open space even if it means adding additional street/yard lighting & trimming back trees/bushes that block your view of your vehicle.
• If you park your car in a dark or isolated area, consider the City Light Area Lighting Program, which permits additional light fixtures to be placed on existing poles. The cost is less than $5 per month per light. Call (206) 684-3000 for more information.
• Consider replacing the light fixture closest to your car with a motion detector unit. Motion detectors are a good psychological deterrents since the normal assumption of a person seeing a light come on is that someone has seen them. Additionally, the light makes the prowler or thief more visible.

SPD says that if your car is broken into file a report by calling the non-emergency number at 206-625-5011, or file one online.
 

 

Damage To Median On "Boulevard" At 43rd Avenue NE Repaired By SDOT Yesterday

damage to Boulevard median
last month







 

 Area repaired yesterday

 

Yesterday afternoon, a neighbor living on the "Boulevard" at 43rd Avenue NE and NE 45th Street, reported that SDOT was repairing the damage to the median caused by a large vehicle turning the corner with limited space last month.

The  neighbor said:

Good news!  SDOT is repairing the 43rd Avenue median. I saw the trucks and went out there and thanked them. The man I spoke to said he was going to speak with a supervisor about possibly paving over the part that gets driven on by buses and trucks. 

The Laurelhurst Blog posted last month about the damage as described by another neighboring resident who lives near the area:
 

Looks like a large truck or construction vehicle ran over the north west portion, at the intersection of NE 45th Street and 43rd Avenue NE, of the median taking out a huge chunk of grass and leaving it in a very bad state.  

If anyone knows who this is, please speak up as they need to pay for the repairs - replacing the grass, etc. 

We take great pride in keeping the median looking nice and this is really too bad.

 

 Comments to the Laurelhurst Blog following that post said:

.

Vehicles can't make the turn due to cars parking on the corner, usually Children's Hospital employees, who then walk to work across the street.  

This type of damage happens a lot with trucks like Amazon Fresh, FedEx, UPS, random Contractor, school bus or a random car that can not make the turn. This latest was a school bus. 

Every time someone drives over the median I fill in the hole and work to clean it up. If we want to fix it we need to add drainage for this grass and add no parking signs.   

I have lived on the Boulevard for 40 years and this type of damage has happened very frequently over the many ears.  Large trucks turning the corner off NE 45th Street must dodge parked cars and have no where else to go on that narrow street. 

Care of the median is very inconsistent.  Once the city abandoned the care of the medians things went downhill quickly.  Plants died for lack of irrigation and the median became overgrown.  The City finally agreed to once again irrigate the median periodically.  And now some of us are paying to have the median mowed.  However the beds are filled with weeds and trash; northern beds are the worst.  For a while I paid my gardeners to periodically weed and clean up some of those beds but grew weary of shouldering that burden alone.  I think it is a shame that Laurelhurst residents are not banding together to keep our main entrance attractive. 

Regarding the damage to the median on 43rd Avenue NE at NE 45th Street, this is the result of Children's employees and construction staff parking in front of our house.  We see numerous big delivery trucks drive up on the median--FedEx, UPS, school buses, big dump trucks, you name it - because it's a tight squeeze for them to get through if cars are parked there. Sadly, this is nothing new. Perhaps you can request that Children's have their landscape crew repair and maintain it.

The Laurelhurst Community Club (LCC) said that the Boulevard along 43^rd Avenue NE is SDOT property.  LCC added that "neighbors have banded together to do the mowing and maintenance and neighbors on the southern most segment have been most active., and many neighbors on the northern portion are older and have not been as active or organized."

Jim Sawyer, Children's Hospital Director of Security said that staff and contractors are not allowed to  park on neighborhood streets and to call Hospital Security to report a violator at 987-2030.

 

He added:

Children's Hospital Security actively tickets the streets and attempt to respond to all complaints within an hour. This is a priority for our patrol and enforcement team. We patrol and ticket the streets regardless of whether we receive calls or not. IF one of our neighbors calls we have and will give their concern priority response. It again is a priority for our team.

There are no assigned  parking areas in the neighborhoods - all assigned areas are on hospital property or in one of our designated off site lots. 

I will note that we advise staff there is NO cut off street distance-all street parking is unauthorized. By cut off distance we mean-if an employee were to ask “If I park a mile and a half away and walk in-is that OK”? If-when we field these questions we answer NO-you need to park in your assigned area if you drive-there is no amnesty so to speak if you park a greater distance away. 

If an employee is a repeat offender it becomes a  serious performance issue which could result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.

 

 

 

Motorola Droid Found On Boulevard

The Laurelhurst Blog staff received this email:

I found a black Motorola Droid (Verizon) phone on my lawn on the 3800 block of 43rd Avenue NE, yesterday morning, May 13th.  

It may have been dropped by a jogger or tossed out of a car. It is cracked in the upper right hand corner.

 

Please contact laurelhurstblogger@gmail.com for more information.

Hospital Asks Neighbors To Report Children's Hospital Employees Parking In Neighborhood

 

 

Employees of Children's Hospital are not allowed to park anywhere in the neighborhood, Jim Sawyer, Director of Security Services at the Hospital, told the Laurelhurst Blog.

And from emails the Laurelhurst Blog has received, seems there are many areas in the neighborhood  that employees are regularly parking in - corner of NE 45th Street and 45th Avenue NE, corner of NE 45th Street and 43rd Avenue NE, 41st Avenue NE, up and down NE 45th Street and several others.

Several residents on the Boulevard said trucks have to go up on the median to avoid Hospital employee cars parked on the corner of the Boulevard and NE 45th Street. Just recently the median was damaged extensively from a large truck trying to make the turn while going around a car parked on the corner.

One resident said that "vehicles can't make the turn due to cars parking on the corner, usually Children's Hospital employees, who then walk to work across the street."

Jim said " Staff and contractors cannot park on neighborhood streets. They are advised to park in assigned areas without exception."

He added:

Security actively tickets the streets and attempt to respond to all complaints within an hour. This is a priority for our patrol and enforcement team. We patrol and ticket the streets regardless of whether we receive calls or not. IF one of our neighbors calls we have and will give their concern priority response. It again is a priority for our team.

There are NO assigned  parking areas in the neighborhoods - ALL assigned areas are on hospital property or in one of our designated off site lots. 

I will note that we advise staff there is NO cut off street distance-all street parking is unauthorized. By cut off distance we mean-if an employee were to ask “If I park a mile and a half away and walk in-is that OK”? If-when we field these questions we answer NO-you need to park in your assigned area if you drive-there is no amnesty so to speak if you park a greater distance away. 

If an employee is a repeat offender it becomes a  serious performance issue which could result in disciplinary action up to and including termination.

To report illegal cars, Jim advised to contact Security at 206-987-2030 (answered 24/7), or call Tom Cheshier, Enforcement Officer, at 206-987-2489.

Jim added that he has sent reminders to staff and are working on drafting another message to the employees.

(graphic courtesy of Car Stock photo)

 

 

Comments About Damage To Median Planting Strip On Boulevard, 43rd Avenue NE

Damage to Boulevard median

Following the Laurelhurst Blog post about damage to the median on the Boulevard, 43rd Avenue NE, we received these comments:

This type of damage happens a lot with trucks like Amazon Fresh, FedEx, UPS, random Contractor, school bus or a random car that can not make the turn. This latest was a school bus.

Vehicles can't make the turn due to cars parking on the corner, usually Children's Hospital employees, who then walk to work across the street. 

Every time someone drives over the median I fill in the hole and work to clean it up. If we want to fix it we need to add drainage for this grass and add no parking signs.   

I have lived on the Boulevard for 40 years and this type of damage has happened very frequently over the many ears.  Large trucks turning the corner off NE 45th Street must dodge parked cars and have no where else to go on that narrow street. 

Care of the median is very inconsistent.  Once the city abandoned the care of the medians things went downhill quickly.  Plants died for lack of irrigation and the median became overgrown.  The City finally agreed to once again irrigate the median periodically.  And now some of us are paying to have the median mowed.  However the beds are filled with weeds and trash; northern beds are the worst.  For a while I paid my gardeners to periodically weed and clean up some of those beds but grew weary of shouldering that burden alone.  I think it is a shame that Laurelhurst residents are not banding together to keep our main entrance attractive. 

Andrea Early (andrea.early79@gmail.com) is the wonderful person who gathers contributions for the mowing of the median by a gardener.  She did one year have enough money left over to have the beds weeded but that was a rare exception.  All the funding is strictly voluntary. I believe to date she has only involved those living on the Boulevard and its side streets.  Since this has traditionally been the main entrance to Laurelhurst I would like to see that list expanded to include all residents.  After all, the entire community is asked to support the care of Mary Gates Boulevard. 

Regarding the damage to the median on 43rd Avenue NE at NE 45th Street, this is the result of Children's employees and construction staff parking in front of our house.  We see numerous big delivery trucks drive up on the median--FedEx, UPS, school buses, big dump trucks, you name it - because it's a tight squeeze for them to get through if cars are parked there. Sadly, this is nothing new. Perhaps you can request that Children's have their landscape crew repair and maintain it.

The Laurelhurst Community Club (LCC) said that the Boulevard along 43^rd Avenue NE is SDOT property. 

"Neighbors have banded together to do the mowing and maintenance and neighbors on the southern most segment have been most active.  Many neighbors on the northern portion are older and have not been as active or organized, " LCC said.

Jim Sawyer, Hospital Director of Security said that staff and contractors are not allowed to  park on neighborhood streets and to call Hospital Security to report a violator at 987-2000.

What Happened To Boulevard Median?



A resident on the Boulevard (43 Avenue NE) sent the Laurelhurst Blog Staff this picture and said:

Looks like a large truck or construction vehicle ran over the north west portion, at the intersection of NE 45th Street and 43rd Avenue NE, of the median taking out a huge chunk of grass and leaving it in a very bad state.  

If anyone knows who this is, please speak up as they need to pay for the repairs - replacing the grass, etc. 

We take great pride in keeping the median looking nice and this is really too bad.

 

Please contact laurelhurstblogger@gmail.com if you have any information.

Recent Attempted Burglary On Boulevard

We received this email from a resident on the Boulevard, 43rd Avenue NE:

On March 7th at noon, an attempted burglary was thwarted on the north end of 43rd Avenue NE, thanks to our 18 month old black labrador, Scout. Her incessant barking and growling alerted me to go downstairs, only to find two hooded young men peering in the back glass door and adjacent side window.

The back door was unlocked. I startled them when I walked into the kitchen, and they turned and ran, "high jumping" our 3' wire doggy fence, and heading north up the alley. 

The police have a report, and are encouraging everyone to be careful and vigilant.