Wacky West Seattle bridge cameras | Close calls near a liquor store

Q: "What the heck is going on with the West Seattle Bridge midspan traffic camera?" West Seattle resident Alan Mendoza asked. "It's been out for weeks."

When Mendoza went online not long ago to check bridge traffic before heading downtown or to the freeway (the Web site is www.seattle.gov/trafficcams/ ), a block box popped up, displaying the message: "This traffic camera is currently under maintenance and is unavailable."

"Having that camera helps avoid wasted trips or making a crowded situation on the bridge even worse," he said. "Many times I've put off a trip when I saw traffic backed up on the bridge. Will it be working again anytime soon?"

A: That camera, one of nearly three dozen operated by Seattle's Department of Transportation to monitor traffic around town, has been malfunctioning the past few months, said transportation department spokesman Gregg Hirakawa.

Sometimes an image shows up online. But at times the department has taken the camera offline because it was out of position. There also have been problems with another traffic camera installed on the West Seattle Bridge. And the city's not sure what's causing the problems.

"Until recently, they had been able to provide reliable images," said Wayne Wentz, the Transportation Department's traffic-management director. But the midspan camera got stuck in an unusable position and the department lost the ability to control it remotely.

Hirakawa says the bridge cameras are hard for repairmen to reach. To compensate, the camera at the bridge's Delridge Way exit was repositioned to offer the best possible view of the area normally covered by the midspan camera.

The city realizes that's not the best solution for bridge monitoring. But Hirakawa says there's no timetable for when the midspan camera will be fixed.

Q: Ballard resident Rolf Petersen would like to see a "right turn only" sign placed at the exit from the state liquor store in Ballard, on Northwest Market Street just west of 28th Avenue Northwest. That's where Market forks to allow westbound traffic to continue straight on Market or curve left onto Northwest 54th Street toward the Ballard Locks.

Petersen says some motorists exiting the liquor store's parking lot, which is on the north side of Market Street, cross both westbound lanes trying to turn left to head east — and sometimes block traffic while waiting to make the turn.

If not a sign prohibiting left turns, how about a concrete barrier to prevent people from making that turn? "I have been witness to several close calls because of people trying to make the left-hand turn," says Petersen.

A: Motorists aren't supposed to enter or exit a driveway unless the coast is clear. But a left turn from that parking lot is legal, says the city's Transportation Department.

A department spokesman says there's adequate road striping there. Drivers just need to exercise caution before proceeding.

According to department statistics, there's been only one accident reported at that location in the past three years.

"The low collision history indicates the driveway access point is functioning safely and turn restrictions or concrete barriers are not warranted at this time," said Wentz , the Transportation Department's traffic-management director.

Q: Could it be that Mary Kay Theis is just hearing things? She swears she's heard the Monorail's horn blow as she walks on Fifth Avenue in downtown Seattle. "Why does the Monorail train blow its very loud horn?" she asks. "Who is on the track?"

A: The Monorail's red and blue trains, which have been running between Seattle Center and the Westlake Center area since the days of the 1962 Century 21 World's Fair, are, indeed, equipped with horns that drivers blow — one blast — to signal that the train's doors are about to close and the train is ready to depart the station.

"There's no reason to blow it elsewhere," says Tom Albro, director of Seattle Monorail Services, which operates the trains.