Crash in North Shorewood
Thanks for the tip about that crash at 26th/108th. Deputies told us at the scene that the driver hit a parked car and went up over the curb, stopped by a tree. No major injuries but the driver was being checked out by Tri-Med. No major traffic impact by the time we got there, either, and a tow truck had arrived.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
April 5th, 2021 at 8:22 pm
I just walked that stretch of 26th yesterday (Sunday) on my neighborhood walk. It’s fortunate nobody was on that sidewalk tonight… I’ll copy/paste my comment from last week below (I guess the bad driving doesn’t stop at 106th):
“And on the off chance that someone from the county or the Sheriff’s office reads this: I’m going to beg for some speed enforcement on the stretch of 26th Ave SW between Roxbury and 106th/107th St.
Every day people are ripping down this street at freeway speeds, and I routinely see people passing other cars on the left and right (!).
This is a street that is home to many families, and elementary school bus stops as well. In addition to the small children being put at risk, there are many people walking their dogs, runners, elderly, and disabled folks who are all vulnerable.
I hope it doesn’t take a tragic event to get some change in place. Please get ahead of this situation before that happens! Thank you for your consideration.”
April 7th, 2021 at 7:45 am
Rick, thanks for speaking up and sorry you have to deal with this. I live on 106th and have been trying to get something (anything) done for the last 2-3 years. The county thinks there aren’t enough accidents despite the fact our 85th percentile is nearly 35mph and the cops say they don’t have any money to write traffic tickets. Someone is going to get killed one day.
April 7th, 2021 at 12:55 pm
We’re north of you, and collectively with a cacophony of neighbors managed to get those “your speed” indicator signs installed near 100th last year. It took a LOT of work and every time they came out to verify speeds, it was a pandemic weekday – so of course the data didn’t hold up to our claims.
I believe there’s something about those speed reading signs that tracks an average above the posted limit? Would have to go back in my notes, but it was intentionally a way to confirm speeding and lay the groundwork for more active traffic calming measures if it didn’t dissuade folks from flying down 26th.
April 6th, 2021 at 2:28 am
Hi! This was actually our front yard that the gentleman crashed into. He was having a seizure, causing him to crash. I happen to be an ER nurse, home on my day off, and was able to help him until medics arrived. Good news is he’ll be okay!
April 7th, 2021 at 1:06 pm
So glad you were able to render assistance and they are going to be ok! Thank You, for your willingness to help.
April 6th, 2021 at 3:55 pm
I walked down the street to check this out… It turns out this person went onto the sidewalk, took out a bus stop sign, then continued on down the sidewalk for about 50 yards (I paced it off), where it hit the other car and ended up on the tree as pictured.
I honestly don’t have a lot of hope that drivers will slow down, pay attention, and not drive impaired. And I don’t expect that the one or two sheriff’s deputies assigned to our area will be able to do anything about it either.
So I guess the only thing I can put out there to reduce the chances of somebody getting killed is to tell pedestrians: keep your eyes and ears peeled while walking, you never know when some goof is going to do something like this. And I also suggest walking on the left side of the road, so you can walk facing the traffic coming toward you. Easier said than done when trying to keep your distance from others, but it might give you a chance to dodge in a scenario like this one.
April 6th, 2021 at 6:18 pm
Hi Megan, thanks for your message. It wasn’t published when I wrote my second post, and I should acknowledge that I made an untrue assumption about the cause of this crash. I’m happy to hear the driver will be okay.
April 7th, 2021 at 3:35 pm
@Matt: As I’ve been walking the neighborhood during COVID, I’ve noted that 106th/107th has a really high number of cars driving on it, so I empathize with you. It’s scary to walk along there because of the patchwork of “sidewalks”/no sidewalks, along with the close proximity of the speeding cars. Plus, some of what few sidewalks do exist, like up by the Shorewood Market (I think that’s the name) on 26th/106th are so humped up as to be very inaccessible. Unfortunately there’s no other nearby direct route between 26th and 35th so that’s what pedestrians are stuck with, unless they go blocks out of the way…
@JCW: Thanks to you and whoever else was involved with getting those signs in place. I do think they are helpful, but their effect is limited to the group of drivers who intend to drive the speed limit but whose speed has unintentionally crept up–they see the sign and slow down. And they don’t help with those who think they’ll be safe going 35-40 or more, and it doesn’t help with those who don’t care or aren’t paying attention.
It would be great if the signs were also gathering data about speeds though. Hopefully they are and the data will support some adjustments in this neighborhood.
Incidentally, has anybody else noticed that these signs appear and disappear on a schedule of some kind? I have some hypotheses:
– Maybe they need to get their batteries recharged?
– Maybe they are also using the sign equipment in another location and alternating them back and forth?
– Maybe whoever is placing them thinks that by alternating having them up and not up, the signs will be more effective because drivers won’t get used to them and ignore them?
Anybody know the answer?
Also, drivers of 106th/107th undoubtedly noticed that someone took out the speed readout sign on the twisty part of 107th east of 26th Ave, right? Whoever did it was heading east too fast and skidded straight into it, snapping off the utility pole it was attached to. I wonder if there are plans to replace it?
And @Megan, I’ll also add my appreciation that you were able and willing to help the driver in this crash who had the medical issue. You should let us know if you could use a hand getting your yard back in order!