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Why I-90 restrictions on flammable cargo?

By Charles E. Brown
Seattle Times staff reporter

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A. Stan Suchan of the state Department of Transportation says trucks carrying flammable cargo are restricted on I-90 between Interstate 5 in Seattle and Island Crest Way on Mercer Island when crews must inspect, test and maintain fire-suppression systems in the I-90 Mount Baker Tunnel and under the Mercer Island lid.

"We typically conduct these safety tests three times per year," he said, "and each test typically takes 10 days."

The most recent restriction, for 10 days, was lifted Wednesday.

Except for those times, trucks carrying flammable cargo are allowed to use that freeway, which, according to the state, is one of the safest and fastest routes to move cargo through the Seattle metropolitan area.

Q. In the past few months, Joyce Van Tuyl has been keeping track of the number of motorists she's witnessed making illegal left turns off eastbound Denny Way onto Westlake Avenue North, despite a sign at the intersection that prohibits them.

So far she's up to 87, she reported a few days ago. And all but three of those turns were made between 5 and 6 p.m. on a weekday, when traffic in both directions on Denny is frequently heavy.

Dear Reader Got a traffic-related question or comment? E-mail bumper@seattletimes.com or call Charles E. Brown at 206-464-2206. Please include your name and city if you agree to publication.

What's more, she notes, countless numbers of bicyclists, many not wearing the helmets prescribed by law, sail through red lights and stop signs in that area.

Van Tuyl, a Ballard resident who works in that section of town, isn't convinced that all those drivers and bicyclists are strangers in town, unfamiliar with the law and posted signs.

"The city is losing a lot of bucks for just one hour of enforcement," she said, not to mention the possibility of someone being seriously injured as a result of these violations.

A. Katherine Casseday, the Seattle Department of Transportation's director of traffic management, says she's asked her staffers to determine whether signal changes might help. It may be that the signal's solid green light for eastbound traffic needs to be changed to an arrow indicating "straight ahead" traffic only. But such a change would require replacing the entire traffic-signal housing, which is more involved than just switching out a bulb.

"In the meantime," she said, "we will alert the Seattle Police Department that this intersection would probably benefit from some additional enforcement, especially at the peak commuting hours."

Q. Littering is against the law. But Mimi Krsak of Seattle says she's been told that a certain First Hill hospital instructs its employees to blow trash from the sidewalk into Madison Street, which already is cluttered with traffic.

"The guys have told me that their boss says they must, that the shopkeepers insist upon it, and that the city has trucks to clean it up, so that is the best way to handle the problem."

Can it be true that the city stands ready to clean up after someone else's mess?

A. Here's the truth, whether the story is true or not. While the city does operate street-sweeper trucks, Seattle Public Utilities spokeswoman Susan Stoltzfus pointed out that it is illegal to deposit debris into drains, ditches, creeks, culverts, gutters or ravines in the city.

"While we do regular street sweeping and storm-drain maintenance, if people sweep debris into the street, it clogs the storm drains and causes street flooding," she said. "It's especially a problem at this time of year when the leaves are falling."

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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