Saint Alphonsus Parish and School in Ballard has a tiny streetfight on its hands. It happens almost daily and hasn’t attracted much attention–possibly because nobody has been injured. But the staff, the kids who go to school there, and their parents are more than aware of it.
Drivers want to get from 14th Ave NW to 15th Ave NW on NW 58th St all hours of the day but are blocked from doing so. And being told “no” is something that our car-culture cannot abide–even for the safety of schoolchildren.
Construction of the Gemenskap Park Development (formerly the 14th Ave NW Park project) has cut off traffic in both directions between NW 59th St and NW 61st St. As a result, the traffic patterns in the West Woodland part of Ballard have resembled a game of Pacman with lost drivers trying to find their way back to 15th Ave NW or head through the residential blocks east of 14th Ave NW in search of another arterial.
When drivers turn onto NW 58th St to head west and get back to 15th Ave NW, they run into clearly visible road closure and go slow, children crossing signs. The walkway is marked off by traffic cones and signs to signal drivers that they cannot pass.
So motorists have taken the gloves off and started driving on the sidewalk next to the school to get around the cones. Yes, that would be the same sidewalk where students, teachers, and parents walk during school hours–including recess. Game on.
In response, the school officials have upped the ante with something right out of the Janette Sadik-Khan School of Tactical Urbanism. They have placed three large planters between the curb and the school building. This still allows for full pedestrian access but acts as a barrier for rogue car drivers.
John Altenhofen, St. Al’s facilities person, told me that the school has had an agreement in place with the City of Seattle for 40 years. It allows the school to close the street to car traffic so that students can walk between the school building and their play areas across the street.
What’s not amusing, even if it has the stuff of the infamous comedy sketch of Almost Live’s Ballard Driving Academy, is that the drivers today appear to be taking to heart the driving school instructions from the early 1990’s:
