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.

April Neighborhood Crime Activity Report

There were no crimes listed on the Seattle Police Department report for the month of April for Laurelhurst.

The Neighborhood Private Security Patrol activity report (subscribe here) was not provided by the Laurelhurst Community Club.

Here are incidents that neighbors reported:

• Teenagers speeding throughout the neighborhood - especially through the NE 41st Street intersection and the park entrance and down the steep hill, also known as "Suicide Hill," towards 5-corners at Mary Gates Drive, Sand Point Way, endangering other drivers, bikers and pedestrians, including young children. Neighbors report speeders driving in excess of 50mph down the hill. 
• Car Prowler on 51st Avenue NE
• Suspicious person driving a maroon Volvo station wagon and wandering around and sometimes sitting on the basketball court on the lake (35th Avenue NE and NE 43rd Street)
• Aggressive man yelling and swearing and adults and children while walking up and down NE 41st Street
• Bike stolen from house on Ivanhoe

The Seattle Police Department published this information on their monthly Blog:

With so many businesses temporarily closed, Seattle has seen upticks in burglaries—mostly at businesses—in some neighborhoods. But Seattle police continue to investigate these crimes and have made a number of arrests for burglary and theft. Here are some ways to make your business a less appealing target for thieves. 

Police have also seen an increase in car thefts during the stay-at-home order. With hundreds of thousands of Seattle residents keeping close to home, and the City suspending 72-hour parking restrictions in many residential areas, vehicle owners are going days without realizing their car has been stolen. Our Auto Theft Unit would greatly appreciate it if you’d go, right now, and check on your car. If it’s not where you left it, call 911. If it’s still there, great. Be sure to check on it again soon. 

We encourage everyone to use the following tips every night at 9 PM (or appropriate time before you head to bed) to minimize your risk: - Bring valuables inside - Lock vehicles and park in a well-lit area - Close and lock your garage door - Check and lock all windows and doors - Turn on outside lights

For more information go here.

"Slow Down" Signs Stolen Stolen From Dangerous Suicide Hill (NE 41st Street)

 



A Laurelhurst Community Club (LCC) Board Member, Robin, let the Laurelhurst Blog know that "Slow Down" signs he put out near Suicide Hill have been taken.

Robin, who works on road safety with the Laurelhurst Community Club, has  over many years witnessed accidents and near misses. He has been working for several years now on improving the safety in that area.


And neighbors have continually reported speeders driving in excess of 50mph down the hill. Neighbors also say that drivers unfortunately go too fast to even read the Slow Down signs. 

Robin told the Laurelhurst Blog Staff:

At our last LCC meeting we were all rather pleased at all the new 20 mph speed limit signs posted up and down the south side of NE 41st Street which added 

to my SLOW DOWN signs on the north side of the street.  

My signs have been up for over 2 years but the others are brand new and have been up just 2 weeks. 

Last week every one of the signs on both sides of the street were stolen. This is the third time mine have been removed.

This is the very last of a batch of my "SLOW DOWN" signs.  All the rest have been stolen over the past three years.

Last January SDOT made changes to the dangerous area that included:

• Cutting back trees for visibility, especially those on on the north side of "Suicide Hill" and in the right-of-way to improve sight lines for all who travel along the corridor. This work will occur on NE 41^st Street between 42^nd Avenue NE and 43^rd Avenue NE.
• Replacing faded regulatory signs at the intersection and refresh the stop bars.
• A  new advisory sign indicating an advisory speed of 15 mph going downhill will be installed west of the Laurelhurst Park entrance and a new 30 mph speed limit sign will be posted at a location east of 48^th Avenue NE or 50^th Avenue NE for the westbound direction.
• Remarking the stop bars.

Last October the Laurelhurst Blog posted about a dog that was struck and killed by a speeding driver on NE 41st Street and in  December we reported about two car accidents, one in which one person left in an ambulance and the other the speeding driver lost control and hit the median sending one tired into the fence at Talaris and knocking part of it down.

Robin reminds drivers that the speed limit for all Seattle streets, unless otherwise posted, is 25mph.

If anybody has any idea who could have done this or where the valuable signs are, please contact laurelhurstblogger@gmail.com. 

   

Another Incident On NE 41st Street

 

Bottom of dangerous hill looking east on NE 41st Street



We received this email from Robin, who lives near NE 41st Street, also known as Suicide Hill, about another incident in that area.

This is one of many reported incidents, including accidents, fence knocked down and a dog being hit a few months ago.

Following a review in October by Jim Curtin , SDOT Traffic Safety Coordinator, several modifications and changes were recommended to ensure better safety for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists. Jim also spelled out a plan for improving safety of this dangerous area of the neighborhood.

One of these recommendations was Seattle Police patrolling for speeders which will continue as neighbors have reported speeders driving in excess of 50mph down the hill. And just in January a driver was pulled over for excessive speed. 

Robin, who works on road safety with the Laurelhurst Community Club, has lived near Suicide Hill for many years witnessing accidents and near misses,  and now he is working to improve the safety in that area.

Here is the email Robin sent us:

This morning at about 11:00am I heard what sounded like one of the Blue Angels flying over head. I went outside I saw a real mess.

A large pick-up had lost it's load of pipes coming down NE 41st Street way too fast. They were all 8 inch and 12 inch PVC (plastic) pipes with at least fifteen of them strewn all over the road and both sides of the parking strips as well. 

Because the pipes were PVC many of them broke on impact so I helped the driver clear up some of the parts as it was holding up traffic. 

When I asked the driver how fast he was going he claimed he had no idea but didn't know what the speed limit was anyway. 

The area covered was from 45th Avenue NE down to 43rd Avenue NE.  

Police Pull Over Speeding Driver Near Suicide Hill Yesterday

Bottom of dangerous hill looking east on NE 41st Street

Yesterday about 7:30am a Seattle Police Officer pulled over a driver going way too fast on NE 41st Street commonly known as "Suicide Hill, "  the the dangerous hill on NE 41st Street between 42nd Avenue NE and 43rd Avenue NE.

A nearby neighbor told us the driver was  "finally getting caught doing what so many of the drivers in that area do so often along NE 41st Street."

Robin, who works on road safety with the Laurelhurst Community Club, has  over many years witnessed accidents and near misses,  And now he is working to improve the safety in that area.

Following a review in October by Jim Curtin , SDOT Traffic Safety Coordinator, several modifications and changes were recommended to ensure better safety for drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists. 

One of these recommendations was Seattle Police patrolling for speeders and this will continue to occur as neighbors report speeders driving in excess of 50mph down the hill.

Other changes to the area now in place are SDOT "SLOW DOWN" signs. However, a neighbor told us that "so far some of the speeders seem to be going too fast to read them".

Other changes will be:

• Cutting back trees for visibility, especially those on on the north side of "Suicide Hill" and in the right-of-way to improve sight lines for all who travel along the corridor. This work will occur on NE 41^st Street between 42^nd Avenue NE and 43^rd Avenue NE.
• Replacing faded regulatory signs at the intersection and refresh the stop bars.
• A  new advisory sign indicating an advisory speed of 15 mph going downhill will be installed west of the Laurelhurst Park entrance and a new 30 mph speed limit sign will be posted at a location east of 48^th Avenue NE or 50^th Avenue NE for the westbound direction.
• Remarking the stop bars.

In October we posted about a dog that was struck and killed by a speeding driver on NE 41st Street and in  December we reported about two car accidents, one in which one person left in an ambulance and the other the speeding driver lost control and hit the median sending one tired into the fence at Talaris and knocking part of it down.

We also posted comments from neighbors who live and drive through that area.

 

Laurelhurst Community Club wrote this to Police Sergeant Newsom yesterday, following the incident:

The Laurelhurst Community Club is grateful that you have provided police officers to monitor speeding on Suicide Hill (along NE 41^st in Laurelhurst). There have been serious accidents along this stretch and to date SDOT has been unable to solve the problem. The speeding cars scare our neighbors and it’s just a matter of time before someone is seriously injured. Thank you very much for your efforts.

Robin reminds drivers that the speed limit for all Seattle streets, unless otherwise posted, is 25mph.

 

 

 

Another Car Accident At 42nd Avenue NE And NE 41st Street And Updare On Accident That Knocked Down Talaris Fence

We received this email about yet another car accident near at the intersection of NE 41st Street and 42nd Avenue NE:
:

Last Thursday, December 5th, there was a bad car crash yesterday about 5:15pm at the bottom of the hill at the corner of 42nd Avenue NE and NE 41st Street.

I heard the crash, but did not see it happen.  From the damage, direction/location of the vehicles, it looked like a car

was turning left onto NE 41st and was hit by a SUV going up the hill.

There was one person taken away in an ambulance, though I don't know the extent of their injuries. There was also a fire truck and two police cars who came to help.

I spoke briefly to the people from the SUV to let them know 911 was coming.  They had already gotten out of their vehicle on their own. Their SUV did have to be towed away.

The SUV ended up almost perpendicular again my curb on the hill side of 42nd Avenue NE. The other vehicle ended up around the corner in front of my neighbor's house just before you go up NE 41st Street.

It looked to be hit on the driver's side. That neighbor said both vehicles crossed the corner of their property and came very close to their fence. From the extensive glass, the crash itself happened right in the middle of the intersection.

We're not sure if someone running a stop sign on 42nd, or speeding on 41st (or both) caused the accident. As you are all too aware, hese are things we've all been concerned about already.

We reported last week about another accident in this same location that happened Sunday about 2am, November 24th,  when a car hit the median on NE 41st Street and a wheel came off knocking down a large part of the fence at Talaris.

Additional information is available now about this accident. According to the police report, the driver was headed eastbound at a ‘high rate of speed’, spun around 180 degrees, took out the fence and the tires were ripped off the rims. Approximately 200 feet of skid marks were observed.

The driver, barely 21 years old, who was arrested on suspicion of DUI. Breathalyzer results show that the driver was likely nearly three times over the legal limit of .08 BAC. There were three other passengers in the vehicle at the time of the crash. No serious injuries occurred.

And in October we posted about a dog that was struck and killed by a speeding driver on NE 41st Street, another dangerous hill just one block east. We also posted comments from neighbors who live and drive through that area who are concerned about the safety of that area.

Last month, Jim Curtin, with SDOT provided analysis of the area, and concluded that SDOT needed to move forward with safety modifications, which are now in the works, depending on weather and other factors.

These include replacing faded regulatory signs at the intersection and replace the stop bars. Additionally, a new advisory sign indicating an advisory speed of 15 mph going downhill will be installed west of the Laurelhurst Park entrance and a new 30 mph speed limit sign will be posted at a location east of 48^th Avenue NE or 50^th Avenue NE for the westbound direction.

 

SDOT will also cut back vegetation in the right-of-way to improve sight lines for all who travel along the corridor. This work will occur on NE 41^st Street between 42^nd Avenue NE and 43^rd Avenue NE.

 

Seattle Police (SDP)  has started patrolling the speed limit on the NE 41^st St corridor during the afternoon.
A family that lives near the intersection said that they keep a first aid kit in the front closet to treat those injured in accidents at that intersection.

"We hope that with all these recent accidents that drivers will really slow down going up and down the hills and heed the posted street signs.  It is heartbreaking for us to hear the car screeching and sound of impact of the car accidents and then learn that more people and pets have been injured.  It just doesn't have to happen at all," a nearby neighbor told us.
 

Reader Comments On Speeding Drivers On NE 41st Street Hill And SDOT Contact For Concerns

Bottom of dangerous hill looking east on  NE 41st Street

 



We have received many comments after our post Tuesday about a dog being hit and killed on NE 41st Street, near the very steep hill.

One neighbor, submitted his concerns and comments to Jim Curtin, SDOT Traffic Safety Coordinator, over a month ago, and Jim has just told the neighbor and the Blog Staff that the evaluation of the site will finally be available on Monday. 

Jim added: 

Please let me know if you know of any recent collisions at this location since crash information is one factor we take into account during our evaluation. There is a rather significant lag time between the incident and the collision report being sent to SDOT so any additional information you can provide would be helpful. To date, we show one collision at this intersection in 2013 that occurred on June 24th.

.

Jim Curtin can be reached by email at Jim.Curtin@seattle.gov or by phone 206-684-8874.

In addition, 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.

 

"More obviously needs to be done to address the problem,"Jeannie Hale, LCC President told us. 

She said that the two worst accidents she is aware of were at the top of the hill - due to lack of visibility. In one accident, one car was totaled and another accident was at the bottom due due to excessive speeds, in which a car was proceeding along 42^nd Avenue NE and was hit by a speeding car proceeding on NE 41st Street.

A neighbor who lives two blocks from the dangerous intersection said that he has heard numerous accidents from his house. He told us that about five years ago an SUV with five Chinese students in was  heading south on 43rd Avene NE and was hit broadside by a full sized sedan heading east fast up NE 41st Street.  There was a lot of damage to the SUV and he believes a broken arm to one of the students.

Another accident he remembers is one aout ten years ago that involved a plumbers truck heading west down NE 41st Street and hit a car crossing the intersection at 43rd Avenue NE, which ended up being totalled. And the impact was so great that pipes on top of the plumbers truck flew down the hill at least 300 feet.

The neighbor also recalls at least five dogs and one cat that have been killed on this stretch over the years.  One kid was crossing the intersection with his dog on a leash. A car coming fast up the hill missed the kid but hit and killed the little dog.

We received these comments from those who travel in that area:

I have lived on NE 41st St. for over 40 years and have tried many times to get the city to install speed bumps or traffic calming always with the same response...NO Their reason is because this street is a main arterial and emergency vehicles need access. I do believe every road leading to Villa Academy has speed bumps so what would happen if there was ever an urgent need response required there?

This past June, we came across a car wreck at the cross streets of NE 41st Street and 43rd Avenue NE. Ever since we moved in almost two years ago, I frequently cross NE 41 Street from 43rd Avenu NE. Every time I cross that street I'm thankful I made it safely. I often thought it might take an accident for the City to put stop signs on the 45th Steet  sides, both east and west. Perhaps the unfortunateaccident will make this happen. 

A concern I have for that intersection is during the School year. The public middle school kids catch their bus at the NE between 7-7:20. I have often seen many students wait until speeding cars, coming from the east, heading west, are traveling too fast to slow down. They come flying down that hill. And many cars come flying up the steep hill, coming from the west, heading east. The speed limit coming up the hill is 15MPH (I believe) and I know many are going much faster than that. During most of the school year the morning is dark, making it really hard to see the kids cross the street.

SDOT now has a new kind of speedbump called a Speed Table that targets inattentive or impaired drivers while leaving the rest of us without "speedbump bruises" They can also be installed on arterials or transit streets prevously off limits for speedbumps. 

So sorry to hear about the dog who was hit. My husband commented Tuesday about 2 police cars, with sirens going, driving very fast on 42nd Avenue NE between NE 45th Street and NE 41st Street. There is no way someone coming down 41st Avenue NE at the usual rate of speed could have stopped in time after hearing the sirens (probably blocked to some extent by the hill) or seeing the car(s).     

We again have problems turning into the alley behind that block of 42nd Ave NE and Talaris.  The lowest branches of the trees in the center median of 41st Avenue NE block the view up the hill necessary for a safe left turn. These trees were pruned slightly last year, but branches grow longer and are weighted down by leaves this time of year. It's a steep hill, and some folks drive so fast that their cars hit bottom on the flat part.  I think the speed limit should be clocked on that hill. 

I was so sad to read about Jacopo getting hit by a car on NE 41st. We live on that street too, and speeders have always been a problem -- from awful to outrageous. I contacted the City about six-eight weeks ago about conducting a traffic study after talking with a neighbor on the northside of 41st, west of us.  The usual blah-blah from the city in response (arterial, etc), but the City did promise to study us within the next year. This is long overdue.

 

This past June, one of my labs escaped from my back yard and was hit by a young lady speeding east up NE 41st Street. The dog wasn't killed but I spent the whole night looking for her, together with several neighbors, finally finding her in the park. She had to have 7 stitches in her head and 4 on her front leg. She was only 2 years old and was never the same again. Very sad. 

I really believe the very safest solution for the NE 41st. Street and 43 Avenue NEcrossing is to install one large Convex Traffic Mirror (About 24" diameter) on the NW corner and another one on the SW corner. This would enable drivers heading south or north on 43rd Avenue NE to check the mirrors and see what is coming up the hill. I also think we should install stop signs on ALL FOUR corners. This will help slow down all the speeding drivers traveling up and down NE 41st Street. The police would have a field day giving out tickets on NE 41st Street. If the SDOT say NO then I really would like to hear what they suggest. Their explanation concerning "no speed bumps" is ridiculous. If there ever a fire at Villa Academyevery road leading to that facility has speed bumps so the reasoning of emergency vehicles needing clear access goes right out the window.  

I have lived on NE 41st Street for 40 years so I do feel i"m somewhat of an expert when it comes to traffic flow in this part of Laurelhurst. The speed limit on this stretch of NE 41st is 15 mph and there are several signs warning drivers of hidden driveways as they head west down the hill from the park. Only about 10% ever obey the speed limit. It is a wonder no children have been run over though a collie dog was killed about 20 years ago by a stop-and-run driver heading west. 

The couple we bought our house from on NE 41st Street in 1968, kept a first aid kit in the front closet to treat those injured in accidents at that intersection. I myself was deposed in a court case in which a young woman riding on the back of a motorbike was hit by a car going north across 43rd Avenue NE. She had stopped but the motorcycle was going so fast she couldn’t see them coming. If there had been a mother pushing a stroller across, they all would have been dead. I refused to testify on behalf of the motorcycle kid as he was speeding. I also remember a driver who drove down 41st (westbound) so fast he lost control, and took out all the trees on our parking strip.  I could go on. This hill has been a problem now and since before we moved in. 

 

Here are two of many past Blog posts published about this area of the neighborhood:

Drivers Rolling Through Stop Signs (2/12)

Three Car Accident (June 2013)