So here we are 2 years later with SDOT telling our new mayor that they need to study the area before making any changes. Apparently it was not a priority for them or the previous mayor to order SDOT to conduct this study they supposedly still need.
To her credit, Cathy Moore publicly called out Harrell and attempted to communicate this approach to try something. All we ever got back from Harrell's office was talk about how much effort they were putting into hiring more officers. I was told "transit dollars" could not be used for public safety
We have been asking to take a comprehensive look to do more of these from at least 90th to 109th and along Northgate Way. None of the city council thought it to be of concern to publicly call out the previous mayor when SDOT said they could not consider without further study.
It's no secret that the city council and mayor aren't getting along right now but as someone who has had to endure this violence in my neighborhood, I am disgusted that some of the council see this as an opportunity to try to score some political points.
We managed to get Harrell to cave and order SDOT to install semi permanent barriers after threatening to do it ourselves. The result was that 2 adjacent streets were closed to thru traffic after 2 years of continued back and forth pleading to do something beyond telling us SPD is understaffed.
Property owners and businesses seem fine to give up on-street parking for this and Seattle seems fine to leave these in the right of way. What if we turned these blocks parallel to the road and made them into tactical protected bike lanes? Let's use this wasted space for something good.
Today I am reminded of a gun violence task force that SPD established 3 years ago in response to gun violence with noted emphasis on Aurora Ave.
I am tired of waking up to gun shots and I am fatigued with having to continually call 911 so that SPD can gather more data about gun violence. They already know it's bad, they put together a task force in 2023 over it. I haven't found any updates to this other than "yep, still gun violence".
For the last 2 years, residents here have been asking the mayor and city council to consider reconfiguring the built environment as a means to help deter gun violence. 6 months into a new mayor's term, some members of the city council have conveniently found urgency to take action.
None of this information was passed on to Wilson by the previous mayor or SDOT during the transition. I heard that this legislation was drafted by Harrell originally but abandoned sometime last fall and never communicated to any of the council. Maybe @cmeddielin.bsky.social can confirm.
Seattle councilmembers are calling on the mayor to close neighborhood roads near Aurora Avenue, calling it a public safety crisis.
Next month the Seattle City Council could take up legislation to make street closures an official tool to prevent gun violence. This comes after residents near Aurora Avenue North created barriers to ...
