Does 20th Ave NE & NE 105th Street Need Traffic Calming?

A topic that came up during last month’s meeting of the Victory Heights Community Council was a proposal to do some sort of “traffic calming” [Seattle-ese for traffic circles, yield signs, or speed bumps] at the intersection of 20th Avenue NE and NE 105th Street (the SE corner of Victory Heights Park). The is where 20th Avenue “jig jogs” as it crosses NE 105th to 19th Avenue NE, an uncontrolled intersection with many blind corners. However, speaking with the residents whose houses surround the intersection found most felt nothing needed to be added.  “People are careful,” said Jim whose tan house can be seen in the photo, directly behind where northbound 20th Avenue “T”s out. His driveway is on the 19th Avenue side (facing the park), and although he always exercises a lot of caution when backing out, he thinks people slow down at the intersection.
Jerry, his next door neighbor, also doesn’t see the need for a traffic circle, although he pointed out he never lets his children cross the intersection without him present because of the blind corners. He wasn’t against a yield sign being put in.
His neighbor across the street was very adamant against putting anything in the intersection, particularly a traffic circle, saying, “I’d be against that.”
In fact, four of five of the neighbors I spoke with said they’d never seen an accident at the intersection and seemed to think it was okay as it was.
However this view was in contrast to Sarah, who has lived on the corner for three years, and reported several near misses and an accident a year ago in which a tow truck had been required. She was in favor of yield or stop sign going in.
The consensus definitely was against putting in a traffic circle, like the one that already exists just one block north at NE 106th Street, or the one soon coming a few blocks east at 23rd Avenue NE. But maybe we haven’t heard the last of this. Feel free to add your comments below.
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