Progress slow, but noticed on Seattle Hill Road
Published 11:59 am Thursday, August 21, 2008
It’s taken more than a year of countless city and neighborhood meetings, an independent consultant and a lot of back biting, but efforts to reduce noise and improve safety on Seattle Hill Road finally appear to be working.
“It’s a little early to say, ‘this worked’ or ‘that didn’t,’ but we are hearing from residents that they like the changes we’ve put in place so far,” Mill Creek City Manager Tim Burns said. “We haven’t completed all the work yet, but we’re getting there.”
The City Council in March authorized the first of several traffic calming strategies for Seattle Hill Road, reducing the speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph. The city also shortened the merge lane leading up the hill from State Route 527 to eliminate the drag race between motorists to the traffic signal at the top of the hill.
City resident Chuck Wright, who co-chairs the Seattle Hill Road Citizens Advisory Committee, said the reduction in traffic noise since the revisions were implemented is obvious. He can entertain guests and talk on the phone in his back yard — two major improvements to his family’s quality of life.
“We’ve definitely seen an improvement, but the city still has a ways to go in solving the problems on Seattle Hill Road completely,” Wright said. “I want them to know I appreciate their efforts, but government sometimes falls behind in its follow through when the pressure subsides. What they’ve done has made a difference, but they can’t stop here.”
Wright has several times criticized city leaders — Mayor Terry Ryan in particular — for not making Seattle Hill Road a big enough priority and for not taking seriously all the recommendations from consultants on improvements, such as roundabouts.
To those criticisms, Ryan responded by pointing out a number of Seattle Hill Road-related projects recently adopted in the city’s capital facilities plan.
“I made this a top priority when I took over as Mayor earlier this year,” Ryan said. “The council approved several strategies to deal with traffic problems on Seattle Hill Road and we will continue to work on those problems.”
Right now, city crews are in the process of installing radar speed signs along the roadway to further encourage motorists to ease off their accelerators. There have been some technical difficulties in running electricity to some planned sign locations, but city leaders say they are working on a solution.
“The feedback from our residents has been positive for the most part,” Burns said. “Most of the complaints have been related to the speed limit reduction and those are mostly coming from folks outside the city.”
