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Blotter | Broadway Bikeway blow-up — Plus, busing burglary suspects busted

See something others should know about? Email CHS or call/txt (206) 399-5959. You can view recent CHS Crime coverage here.

  • Bikeway defender vs. armored truck: A CHS Community post submitted to the site Wednesday documents poster sbunin’s run-in with an armored truck and its driver illegally parked in the middle of the Broadway Bikeway:

    After driving 3/4th the length of the block from E Pine Street on the Bicycle track on Broadway, the armored truck in question parked for longer than it took me to order food from a store for lunch. After informing the driver politely that it was illegal to drive in the Bicycle track and to park there and being ignored, I called the 800 number of the back of the truck and ordered lunch. Since the truck was still parked there with the driver playing on his phone, I asked him again to move at which point he said he was calling 911. I waited for the police to arrive and found them not very concerned about the armored truck being parked in the bicycle lane stating that it was likely for their safety and to call 911 if I see it again instead of bothering the driver who needs to be aware of threats. Given there were parking spaces nearby, I was more concerned for other bikers given how many times I am forced into traffic by illegally parked vehicles while biking. If you see any armored trucks or other vehicles blocking the bicycle track, please take pictures and call the police. They need to learn that this is not acceptable.

    NoParking_1-662x1024 (1)According to East Precinct radio dispatches, police were called to the 1700 block of Broadway just before 1 PM for a report of “harassment” involving a person an armored truck driver said was climbing on his truck and trying to “place a sticker” on the vehicle. As you can see above, sbunin’s account differs from the driver’s. SPD says no report was taken on the incident and that the responding officer was able to “mediate” the situation. The first stretch of the Broadway Bikeway opened in October as part of an overhaul of the street to make the road safer for bikers, pedestrians and drivers with the installation of the First Hill Streetcar. SDOT created this education material in response to confusion and straight-up ignorance of the new cycle track’s changes to street parking in the area.

  • Broadway Hill package thefts: We recently posted about car prowlers and package thieves active on the Hill this holiday season. One area mentioned in the report was information shared by neighbors around Broadway Hill Park of a prolific package thief. The neighbors have pictures to share of the woman said to be ripping off people’s stuff in the area:
  • Burglary arrests: SPD chased down two burglary suspects Wednesday afternoon after an alert childcare provider in the area noticed two people carrying household items near 24th Ave E. Police trailed the duo who stowed some of the suspected booty and were seen carrying a laptop and bags onto a 43 Metro coach. Police attempted to contact the males at a bus stop near 19th and John when one attempted to flee. Both males were taken into custody and some of the goods were recovered. Police traced the suspected stolen items to a home burglarized near 22nd Ave E and E Galer. One 18-year-old suspect was booked into King County Jail for investigation of burglary while the other, a minor, was taken to the Youth Services Center.
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br
br
10 years ago

Not a fan of the bike lane but annoying to see people illegally parking in it.

It is pretty obvious where you are supposed to park so there really isn’t any excuse to park in the bike lane. Does anyone know why the police did not ticket the driver? Is it or isn’t it illegal to park in the bike lane?

Shirley Savel
10 years ago

This just looks like another place they need to add stronger or more visible bollards. I do like the idea of the cycle track but it feels like people still don’t know what to do. The SilverCloud Hotel loved to park there and since they added the boallards I haven’t seen it. Once the whole Broadway track opens it will be a gateway for people getting from Rainier to Capitol Hill and the last thing I want is for a car to block my way and then stuck with a kid and cargo bike trying to make myself around that mess.

Andrew Taylor
Andrew Taylor
10 years ago
Reply to  Shirley Savel

Shirley: cycling (at a walking pace) on the sidewalk is a legal way round the obstruction.

“Better to arrive late than to be dead on time”

Shirley
10 years ago
Reply to  Andrew Taylor

I know that but sometimes when you have a load of groceries, kid, backpack, and the odd broom is is hard to easily get from the path to the sidewalk. Plus, if I am on the sidewalk I have to go so slow because I don’t want to hit someone. Worse, nobody in a car is looking for a bike on the sidewalk. I really don’t care if I am late. I don’t think I would have argued with the driver. I would have taken LOTS of pictures and posted them to social media and also called 911 if the driver became hostile. I mean I watched a guy fly up in the air on 2nd Ave (another story) because a car hit him. I didn’t just walk away I waited with that guy until the police came. Sure, I was late to whatever I was doing but that didn’t matter.

etaoin shrdlu
etaoin shrdlu
10 years ago

I can’t believe this happened on Capitol Hill. A screechy, self-righteous, self-important defender of the beleaguered cyclists, climbing on an armored car because he didn’t like where it was parked? We are shocked. Shocked!

Zed
Zed
10 years ago
Reply to  etaoin shrdlu

So the armored car should be allowed to wholesale break the law. The truck is the one that’s entitled. You suck.

sbunin
sbunin
10 years ago
Reply to  etaoin shrdlu

No one climbed on the armored vehicle. Pictures were taken and a second pedestrian wrote a note on an envelope and placed it on the trucks windshield.

certaindoom
certaindoom
10 years ago

So for years, various working peoples’ trucks (UPS, Armored Cars, produce delivery etc) have parked where they need to in order to work.

Suddenly McGinn’s people decide they’re installing really wide bike lanes on Broadway. When a perfectly servicable road one block away, Harvard Ave, could have worked as well or better (and in fact is how Portland and San Francisco have done it in many places, put the bike trail 1 block off the arterial)

Instead of that, McGinn’s Minions decided for everyone that uses Broadway that bikes come first, regardless.

You see the result. People that still need Broadway to function as it has for decades keep doing their jobs how they know how, meanwhile, it irks and angers the few people willing to try the new bike lane, only to find it isn’t even empty of existing vehicles.

It’s a mess only a zealot like McGinn and his Bike Czar could have created.

I am hoping, really hoping, that Murray’s people can fix this idiotic and preventable mess. Listen to all sides, see if maybe the bike path would work better on Harvard, or whether there’s good reasons for keeping it on Broadway.. meanwhile did it need to be as wide as it is, could the bike demand have made do with less, in order to preserve two usable lanes going north, for things like ambulances and the soon-to-arrive trolley.

I implore those in power that might be reading to consider that a city needs to be a city for all, not just for a screaming annoyed few. The zealous CARS=DEATH crowd had McGinn’s ear, shoved a right of way into an existing city, and now we’re living with the confrontational daily result. The zealous bike crowd likes this, its payback they think for years of being doored or abused on Broadway. But wouldn’t it have made more sense to put the bike lane on Harvard Ave? Or maybe made it less wide so it wouldn’t have taken up 2 car lanes from Broadway (leaving only 2 + the center turn lane — wait until the Trolley and ambulances get going, and one can’t pass the other)…

Just some thoughts.

paul tissell
paul tissell
10 years ago
Reply to  certaindoom

I realize that yes we built I-5 in a trench through the middle of the city, spend billions of dollars on the likes of widening and replacing SR 520, and a massive tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct – but but this extravagant bike track on Broadway is clearly over-the-top. In the much-hyped war against cars led by cyclists and pedestrians cars have lost and this is their deathknell.

Prost Seattle
Prost Seattle
10 years ago

Why didn’t the SPD ticket the armored car driver? Just because you have a commercial license doesn’t mean you get to break parking laws.

sbunin
sbunin
10 years ago

The good news is that today, an armored vehicle from the same company, managed to find a place to park that was not on the bike path. It wasn’t a legal parking space, but it wasn’t on the bike path.

calhoun
10 years ago

I don’t condone the truck’s driver parking in the bike lane, but the lack of legal places for delivery trucks to park is a significant problem, not only on Capitol Hill but downtown and other places in the city. Many of the “commercial loading zones” have been removed, for a variety of reasons, so that doesn’t help. I’m sure the truck drivers try to find a legal place to park while they do their delivery, but sometimes one just isn’t available. And it is not fair for us to expect them to park a block or two away when they might have a huge delivery to complete.

I’ve especially noticed that the block of 12th Ave between Pike and Union almost always has at least one large delivery truck parked in the middle of the street, obstructing clear views for motorists and producing a somewhat dangerous situation.

FG
FG
10 years ago

I have no issue with an armor truck parked in the bike lane if it was due to work. If they were on break buying lunch, then, yes, that would be an issue. I would rather read a story of a pissed off citizen complaining about the truck blocking the bike lane than reading a guard being shot because he had to walk farther away than need be.

sbunin
sbunin
10 years ago
Reply to  FG

this is a two way cycle track. it isn’t like the bicyclists can just moved over into the car traffic. it is bike traffic in two directions right next to each other with parked cars on one side and everything and everyone on the sidewalk from sign posts to pedestrians on the other (as well as a curb). It reduces visibility and can easily cause a collision. It would be the equivalent to driving and parking on the Burke Gilman trail, extremely unsafe.

sbunin
sbunin
10 years ago
Reply to  FG

To clarify, if it was a one way bike lane with traffic on the left and parked cars on the right, I’d be annoyed but probably would ignore it because I can more or less safely merge into traffic. It is the configuration of the bike track, parking, and clear illegality of the situation that made this incident so dangerous and callous that it couldn’t b be ignored.

Paige
Paige
10 years ago

I live at Summit & Republican and we’ve had several package thefts from the front of the building. I assumed it was someone from our building, but maybe not!

WJ
WJ
10 years ago

Thanks CHS for posting about the robbery. Was curious about all the extra police in the neighborhood. Heard that the Metro bus was involved and glad to read about the details.