28th and Ruffner problems

March 21st, 2011 · 35 Comments

A recent car accident prompted estevens to share concerns about a traffic problem in our area in the forum. We wanted to bring it to the attention of readers:

Hello fellow Magnolia-ites. I was on my way home this evening and came to the intersection at 28th and Ruffner and witnessed a very scary car accident. I know that every day I have to drive through that intersection I pray that as I slowly creep out to see if I can cross 28th I don’t have a car slam in to me. Well the poor lady tonight, that did the same creep that I do every day, wasn’t so lucky. Thankfully no one was injured but the cars were totaled.

Of all the intersections I have crossed in my life that one is by far the scariest. I think that there has to be something we can do to petition the city to make that a 4 way stop. I can’t really think of any reason why that wouldn’t work. The traffic on 28th doesn’t ever seem to be to heavy so I really don’t think it would cause any congestion. All I know is that there is no way to safely see if there is a car coming especially since cars park on 28th completely impeding any visibility. My other concern is that there is no cross walk there and my daughter has to cross that street every day as her bus stop is on the south east corner of 28th and Ruffner/Manor Place. If any one else shares these concerns please help me come up with a solution to make our community a safer place.

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Kristinlittle

I agree- the cars that park on the north-west side of the street completely block my sight lines. Additionally the intersection demands you look not only for car traffic but pedestrian traffic from the bus stop etc. super scary.
http://www.wix.com/gg_gemini/gemini gg_Gemini

What ever we decide to do, I’ll support it. I live around 24th and Dravis. Cars whip through that hill like it’s a race. Especially off the main drag, it’s scary as all get out.
magbiker

It is a tough intersection coming from both the east and the west. Coming from the east, you are coming up the hill and need to get into the crosswalk to see. Coming from the west, the parked cars block your view completely. It needs a stop sign.
Irene

I completely agree. I try to be as careful as I can, and I’ve almost caused an accident twice. It’s especially scary when a bus is stopped – I’m worried a car will whip around the bus and hit me – or a pedestrian. A stop sign would be very helpful.
Irene

I completely agree. I try to be as careful as I can, and I’ve almost caused an accident twice. It’s especially scary when a bus is stopped – I’m worried a car will whip around the bus and hit me – or a pedestrian. A stop sign would be very helpful.
Toofast

yep do it. 28th travels for too long uninterrupted and so causes drivers to treat it like a freeway.

Brad

Agreed. 28th would yield some nice revenue for the police department if they ever parked cops on side streets for random speed traps. Traps on Magnolia Bridge is a lower priority as there is no public harm until at the top of the bridge. But 28th is residential and loaded with families, has lots of turnouts and there is real concern about this stretch.

nana

I think a 4-way stop would work…BUT extra signage would be needed for
quite awhile. Crazy, speeding drivers do treat that end of 28th West like
a freeway. If they ever put a speed trap down 28th West, the city will be
making alot of money.

Doug

The speed trap would be a really good idea.
Have more of them coming up the Magnolia Bridge. Many cars going fifty miles an hour or more.
Doug

The speed trap would be a really good idea.
Have more of them coming up the Magnolia Bridge. Many cars going fifty miles an hour or more.

Meow

While were on a driving topic, it would be nice if people actually came to complete stops in downtown Magnolia. Way too many people with the rolling stop and not yielding to pedestrians.
ajax

If you’re not familiar with driving in Magnolia, it can be confusing. Some intersections have stops signs, others yield signs, some roundabouts and others nothing….. The city needs to come up with a uniform plan and stick to it…..

Meow

Really? You are saying that signs are too hard to follow?

If you cannot read a sign or are finding them confusing, you shouldn’t be driving period. You shouldn’t behave solely on instinct or memory every time you encounter an intersection. There is a sign there, take a second to see what it is, interpret it and follow it.

If that’s too much to ask, take the bus.
kathotdog

Most Magnolia drivers see Stop signs as suggestions.
I wait for the bus at 28th and Blaine and I see at least 20 cars a day not come to a stop before continuing. It is ridiculous.
kathotdog

Most Magnolia drivers see Stop signs as suggestions.
I wait for the bus at 28th and Blaine and I see at least 20 cars a day not come to a stop before continuing. It is ridiculous.
kathotdog

Most Magnolia drivers see Stop signs as suggestions.
I wait for the bus at 28th and Blaine and I see at least 20 cars a day not come to a stop before continuing. It is ridiculous.

seattleiteish

I would also wholeheartedly support any effort to change that intersection to a four-way stop. Turning left onto southbound 28th from westbound Ruffner is always nerve-wracking, no matter how cautiously I’m driving. I’ll see if I can dig up a link for petitioning the city for a traffic change. If I can find anything, I’ll post it here. Does anyone else here (maybe our friendly blog moderator?) have experience with trying to get the city’s attention on this type of issue?
http://www.charlesredell.com/ Charles

Interesting. I live down the block from this spot and have never had a problem. Not to say that there isn’t one, just haven’t seen or experienced on myself.
Anyway, the city is not going to do anything unless there is a clear safety issue here. So the first thing that needs to be done is to get accident data on that intersection. The city won’t act on anecdotes like the above.
I don’t know where that data lives. Either SDOT or the police I imagine. But I just asked for it from SDOT: http://sdotblog.seattle.gov/ask-us-a-question/comment-page-36/#comment-87405

If I get a response, I’ll post it here.
Lisa Yumul

I do agree but by stating that the traffic is not too heavy on 28th might hinder a 4 way stop being put in. I do think that there is enough traffic to warrent a solution. And on another note, people drive way too fast on 28th!
Lisa Yumul

I do agree but by stating that the traffic is not too heavy on 28th might hinder a 4 way stop being put in. I do think that there is enough traffic to warrent a solution. And on another note, people drive way too fast on 28th!
Cspencer

I’ve thought for years that that intersection needs those “no parking within 30 feet” signs at the corners, or at least the northwest corner. If you’re eastbound on Ruffner, you just can’t see around the cars that inevitably are parked right up to the corner, and have to creep halfway into the intersection before you can tell if it’s safe to go. Westbound isn’t as bad, but it’s bad enough.
mary

Agreed. That’s a crazy spot. As a pedestrian that often walks along 28th, I greatly appreciate those coming up Manor Place that creep up to the intersection to look. More often, people come flying up the hill and stop past the stop sign. So when I’m out with the baby in the stroller, we have to stop, listen, wait and then hurry across just to make sure we won’t be run over crossing the street. We’ve had many, many close calls. Sadly I don’t think a 4-way stop would help the pedestrians… as someone below mentioned we’ve often had people roll through stop signs rather than stopping for us to cross.
mary

Agreed. That’s a crazy spot. As a pedestrian that often walks along 28th, I greatly appreciate those coming up Manor Place that creep up to the intersection to look. More often, people come flying up the hill and stop past the stop sign. So when I’m out with the baby in the stroller, we have to stop, listen, wait and then hurry across just to make sure we won’t be run over crossing the street. We’ve had many, many close calls. Sadly I don’t think a 4-way stop would help the pedestrians… as someone below mentioned we’ve often had people roll through stop signs rather than stopping for us to cross.
mary

Agreed. That’s a crazy spot. As a pedestrian that often walks along 28th, I greatly appreciate those coming up Manor Place that creep up to the intersection to look. More often, people come flying up the hill and stop past the stop sign. So when I’m out with the baby in the stroller, we have to stop, listen, wait and then hurry across just to make sure we won’t be run over crossing the street. We’ve had many, many close calls. Sadly I don’t think a 4-way stop would help the pedestrians… as someone below mentioned we’ve often had people roll through stop signs rather than stopping for us to cross.
Emily :)

I agree that it’s a scary intersection, seeing as how I also turn onto 28th from manor everyday on my way to the Magnolia bridge BUT there are SEVERAL scary intersections in the city of Seattle, and most of the ones I’ve had issues with are in Ballard, not Magnolia, because of the lack of traffic in Magolia. Something does need to be done, police need to enforce the “no parking within 30 feet of stop signs” rule and that needs to be done on the especially bad intersections.
Robinfairchild

I agree. I go through that intersection frequently and have thought it dangerous. Something should be done
Robinfairchild

I agree. I go through that intersection frequently and have thought it dangerous. Something should be done
Hoopaholich8

I agree that intersection is bad. A 4 way stop would be great!!! But the problem with the city is that they wont (in most cases) change or place a stop sign at an intersection unless there is a certain amount of fatalities or if they came up with the idea themselves. Crazy as it sounds it’s true. We tried to get the city to place a 4 way in a similar street in magnolia and that’s exactly what they told us. Not enough fatalities to warrant a stop sign. I would like to see a 4 way at that location too. What can we do to get this done?
Hoopaholich8

I agree that intersection is bad. A 4 way stop would be great!!! But the problem with the city is that they wont (in most cases) change or place a stop sign at an intersection unless there is a certain amount of fatalities or if they came up with the idea themselves. Crazy as it sounds it’s true. We tried to get the city to place a 4 way in a similar street in magnolia and that’s exactly what they told us. Not enough fatalities to warrant a stop sign. I would like to see a 4 way at that location too. What can we do to get this done?
Winniegirl2

While I can’t speak to this specific intersection, when my husband asked the city about the possibility of getting a stop sign at 21st and Dravus, he was told there weren’t enough accidents there to justify it. Sad that that is the criteria….
http://www.charlesredell.com/ Charles

Why do people think it’s sad that the city wont add signs to intersections that don’t have a history of accidents? If they didn’t use that as a data point, every neighborhood in the city would be clamoring for signs on every intersection in the city. With limited money, they should be focusing actual problem intersections. This one may be, or may not be. But why spend money where accidents don’t actually occur?
http://www.charlesredell.com/ Charles

Why do people think it’s sad that the city wont add signs to intersections that don’t have a history of accidents? If they didn’t use that as a data point, every neighborhood in the city would be clamoring for signs on every intersection in the city. With limited money, they should be focusing actual problem intersections. This one may be, or may not be. But why spend money where accidents don’t actually occur?
isue

Also all the tall plants on the house on that corner make visibility difficult. Think it is against Seattle codes. We used to live in that area and my sister had a fender bender at that same intersection. A four way stop would help.
Pamela

I agree with the “no parking within 30 feet” suggestion. We don’t need a 4-way stop here if the visibility is improved, and SUVs and mini-vans block the view here frequently. Another intersection where the 30-feet rule should be implemented is 28th and Grover. Especially if you are trying to turn left on a weekday there seems to be a truck or SUV right at the corner that blocks your visibility.
Pamela

I agree with the “no parking within 30 feet” and “cut back your vegetation” suggestions. We don’t need a 4-way stop here if the visibility can be improved, and SUVs and mini-vans block the view here frequently. Another intersection where the 30-feet rule should be implemented is 28th and Grover. Especially if you are trying to turn left on a weekend there seems to be a truck or SUV parked practically right at the corner to block your visibility. People bring their big dogs to the ersatz dog park (aka Magnolia Manor Park) in big vehicles and the apartment folks line 28th with their vehicles when they aren’t at work. Visibility is especially bad on Saturday, Sunday and evenings when vehicles return from taking their people elsewhere to work.