Summer Taylor, right, dancing early Saturday morning on I-5 (Images: @nowah_j)
They died after dancing the Cupid Shuffle on I-5 in the middle of Seattle on a night of protest and energy with friends and loved ones.
Summer Taylor was 24.
The activist and Capitol Hill resident died Saturday as they marched and danced with the nightly Black Femme March for Black Lives Matter. As it had for weeks, the group entered the freeway and brought traffic to a stop to get their message out and make a stand. Continue reading →
Two people were sent to the hospital, one with life threatening injuries, after a driver sped through a crowd of dozens of Black Lives Matter protesters blocking southbound I-5 early Saturday morning.
The driver has been taken into custody, according to the Washington State Patrol.
Just after 1:30 AM, a white sedan sped into the crowd assembled on the freeway near Yale just north of the Olive Way overpass, careening into at least two protesters in a scene captured by journalists livestreaming the demonstration. Seattle Fire reports the two victims are women in their 20s. One suffered life threatening injuries while the second suffered serious injuries but is reported in stable condition. UPDATE x2: WSP says the victims are a 24-year-old from Seattle and a 32-year-old from Bellingham. UPDATE x3: They have been identified as Summer Taylor, 24, and Diaz Love, 32. Information on how to help is below.
UPDATE 10:00 PM: According to Harborview, Taylor passed away earlier Saturday.
Washington State Patrol says a person died after reportedly leaping from the Pike overpass onto I-5 in front of the Convention Center early Tuesday morning.
Seattle Police and Seattle Fire were called to the scene near Pike and Hubbell Place just after 6 AM. A WSP spokesperson said the person fell and was struck by vehicles in the northbound lanes of I-5 and died at the scene.
WSP is still working to contact the drivers involved in the incident.
All northbound lanes but one were closed during the response. Despite lower than typical volumes due to the COVID-19 restrictions, traffic was reported backed up for about four miles during the three-hour closure.
Resources to help those in need: National suicide-prevention hotline: 800-273-8255. Local Crisis Clinic: (206) 461-3222. If you need immediate assistance, call 911.
A fire near a popular encampment area below Pike and Boren sent black smoke billowing across the neighborhood and left the I-5 overpass closed pending inspection Sunday night.
Seattle Fire units rushed to the area just before 7 PM to a report of the fire in the I-5 greenbelt area below Plymouth Pillars Park. Smoke rose from all sides of the raised streets as flames could be seen shooting from beneath the area of the overpass. Continue reading →
A person died after falling along the I-5 exit to Union in downtown Seattle Thursday morning.
According to emergency radio updates, the person was found face down along the freeway exit just before 6:30 AM. Seattle Fire found citizens attempting to revive the victim who was declared dead at the scene.
Though the person was found in an area that has seen accidental falls as people attempt to enter encampment areas along I-5 near the convention center, CHS is told that investigators determined the person intentionally jumped in a suicide attempt.
Resources to help those in need: National suicide-prevention hotline: 800-273-8255. Local Crisis Clinic: (206) 461-3222. If you need immediate assistance, call 911.
Seattle ARCH (Activists Remembered, Celebrated, and Honored) has plans for a “Ramps to Nowhere” memorial (Image: Seattle ARCH)
(Image: Seattle ARCH)
Priscilla Arsove remembers sitting in her family’s living room as her father called hundreds of volunteers and city officials throughout the evening on their house’s single landline telephone to stop freeway projects that he saw as troubling throughout Seattle. Now, she’s working to maintain that legacy as the work of her father and hundreds of others celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
On Sunday September 23, a 50th anniversary celebration of their work will be held at the Central Area Senior Center.
Maynard Arsove was pushed to action by the construction of I-5 which effectively separated Capitol Hill and First Hill from downtown.
The “Freeway Revolt” began in 1960 when voters approved the Bay Freeway, which was set to be a link between I-5 and Seattle Center, and bonds to fund the R.H. Thomson Expressway, a 15-mile roadway that would have stretched from Duwamish to Bothell, thus setting in motion the creation of a transportation system that would have a greater freeway density than Los Angeles.
The R.H. Thomson Expressway would have destroyed up to 3,000 homes and displaced as many as 8,000 people. The Bay Freeway would have walled off South Lake Union from the rest of the city. These possibilities fostered a public outcry that resulted in a public outcry from affected residents which saw the citizens suing the city two years later. Widely-attended public hearings on the future of transportation in Seattle ensued before Citizens Against the RH Thomson (CARHT) and Citizens Against Freeways (CAF) formed in 1968.
“An arrogant disregard for the needs and the interests of the people that lived in the area,” Anna Rudd, a former anti-freeway activist, said of the city’s plan. Continue reading →
Riisa Conklin and Alex Zeilier of the Freeway Park Association presenting design principles (Image: Scott Bonjukian)
Tuesday, June 5th saw the second gathering of the faithful for the Central Hills Triangle Collaborative (CHTC), a partnership between PPUNC (the Pike|Pine Urban Neighborhood Council) and Lid I-5. An all-volunteer effort, the goal of the CHTC is to provide visionary urban designs to inspire Seattleites to advocate for covering Interstate 5 with parks, housing, and neighborhood centers. While no public agency has committed to our vision, Lid I-5 was recently successful in securing a $1.5M grant for the City of Seattle to begin a year-long feasibility study. In addition, Lid I-5 continues to have promising discussions with civic leaders and WSDOT and we have been invited by the DOT to a work group that is studying I-5’s future in the Puget Sound Region. With the CHTC’s results in hand we are confident we can capture the public’s imagination and convince leaders to transform Seattle by re-imagining its largest publicly-owned asset.
Spirits were high and the results of the seven teams’ efforts were remarkable. Beginning with the Connections Team (infrastructure, mobility, and branding) and progressing through the South (recreation), Central (commerce), and North (housing) Teams, it was apparent that each team was excited in presenting their work and in the work of their fellow designers. Scott B, Sony P, and I were excited too, not only by the goodwill and cheer exuded by the teams but also by our recent success in the $1.5M grant. The work of the CHTC will help the city visualize and define the scope of work for their RFQ scheduled for later this year. Continue reading →
A person threatened to jump from a freeway sign below Pike onto I-5 Tuesday night in an incident that brought southbound I-5 through downtown Seattle to a standstill.
The person was reported safely down and in police custody around 10:15 PM.
Thanks to reader Ella for the pictures
The incident began just before 9:30 PM as a person was reported climbing on sign scaffolding below Pike and emergency vehicles began to stage in the area as traffic was brought to a stop on southbound I-5.
After 45 minutes, the patient was safely on the ground and with police, according to East Precinct radio reports.
Two people were taken to Harborview with serious injuries Tuesday morning after a vehicle collided with another head-on near the northbound I-5 onramp from Harvard Ave E.
Seattle Fire and police responded to the crash just before 10:30 AM in the 2700 block of Harvard Ave E just below Roanoke where northbound vehicular traffic must cross two lanes of southbound traffic to enter the freeway.
Seattle Fire reports that both drivers were in stable condition after being rescued from their vehicles and rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. Animal control was also called to the scene to assist with a dog in one of the crashed vehicles.
The area was closed to traffic during the response. Metro 49 was rerouted during the crash but back on regular service as of noon. Continue reading →
The First Hill Improvement Association has its work cut out for it. Some 4,000 new units of housing are scheduled to be built in the neighborhood over the next few years. In January, we told you about one project to help add some color to the neighborhood with a call for artists to create designs for the forest of columns supporting I-5 between First Hill and downtown. Now you can vote on which design the FHIA should bring to life under I-5:
The First Hill Improvement Association is excited to be able to make changes to the columns underneath Interstate 5 between Cherry and James Streets. We’re grateful to have the help from Urban Artworks to install and paint the selected art design. Before our partners at Urban Artworks are able to paint the selected art design, we need your input! Please review each proposal from 5 local artists and vote on the design you’d like to see underneath the Interstate. The proposals are provided below, as well as a link to vote. Remember, you can only vote once! Get to it!
