New Beacon Hill speed hump does little to slow truck as residents raise concerns

Residents in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood are voicing concerns over speed humps that did little to slow down a large truck in a video posted to Twitter this week.

In the video posted by Beacon Hill Safe Streets, a pickup truck can be seen racing over the newly-installed humps without braking.

Many were quick to reply once the video hit Twitter on Wednesday.

“Somebody ordered the diet traffic calming feature,” one person commented.

“What bumps?” said another.

The Seattle Department of Transportation responded in comments to KIRO 7, stating that “after that video was shared online, we went sent an inspection crew to look at the speed cushions.”

“The inspection verified that these cushions met our standards for height/length/width and were installed properly,” SDOT Press Secretary Ethan Bergerson said. “We also plan to return to send a crew soon to repaint the speed cushions with bolder markings to make them more visible and attention-grabbing for people driving.”

According to Bergerson, these humps were designed to accommodate axle widths for emergency vehicles, and municipal and federal design standards call for them to be between three to four inches high to discourage speeding. In this case, the humps were 3.5 inches high.

“We would also like to emphasize that these cushions are the first of many safety enhancements and traffic calming elements we plan to build in this location based on community requests,” Bergerson added. “When we are done, this street will look quite different and feature many elements designed to encourage people to drive at safer speeds. Among other safety enhancements, we plan to build a protected bike lane along 15th Ave S between the Jose Rizal Bridge and S Walker St.”

Beacon Hill Safe Streets also plans to celebrate those improvements on July 25 and encourages residents to volunteer to help spearhead traffic safety for the whole neighborhood.