Harger: 8,555 tags and counting: The unchecked graffiti problem on the Seattle freeways
Sep 5, 2024, 5:30 AM
The Seattle graffiti problem has reached such an extreme that it’s starting to feel like we’re all living in a house with a badly trained cat. You know the type—where the smell hits you the moment you walk in, but the owners? They’ve grown so used to it, they don’t even notice anymore.
Well, Seattle’s highways are that house, and the overwhelming stench of graffiti is everywhere. Drive through it every day, and maybe it becomes part of the blur. But once you pay attention, you realize: this mess is out of control.
Imagine being a tourist visiting Seattle for the first time, excited to see the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, and all the charm the city has to offer. But as soon as you hit the freeways, you’re greeted not by sweeping views of the skyline, but by miles of spray-painted graffiti on every wall, sign, and overpass.
It’s like we’ve rolled out a red carpet of vandalism to welcome visitors. What must they think? Seattle’s a world-class city, but you wouldn’t know it from the way our roads look right now.
Instead of clean streets and iconic landmarks, tourists are treated to a grimy, graffiti-covered landscape. It’s not just embarrassing—it’s a terrible first impression for a city that prides itself on beauty and innovation.
Just how bad is the Seattle graffiti?
To get a clearer picture of just how overwhelming the problem has become, KIRO Newsradio’s Nate Connors and I decided to count every visible tag along Interstate 5 (I-5) within the city limits. Yes, every single one. We used a clicker-counter that coaches use at sporting events.
Starting at the MLK exit in the south, we drove all the way to 145th in the north, counting every tag on both sides of the road. We didn’t stop there. We also counted the tags on the I-5 collector-distributor lanes, express lanes, and even inside the Mercer Street tunnel, a main gateway to the city for tourists.
The final count? Nate clicked a staggering 8,555 tags. That’s not a typo. Eight-thousand, five-hundred, fifty-five tags scrawled across Seattle’s roadways. At one point, he noted the clicker was getting warm.
Here’s how it breaks down:
- I-5 mainline south to north: 2,232 tags
- I-5 mainline north to south: 3,895 tags
- I-5 collector-distributor lanes: 749 tags
- I-5 express lanes: 1,186 tags
- Mercer Street tunnel: 493 tags
The result is not just an eyesore—it’s a disgrace.
And this is likely an undercount. There were sections of roadway where Nate was overwhelmed by the number of tags and couldn’t click fast enough – even though he has used a Sony PlayStation for years.
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‘It looks like crap’
Casey McNerthney, spokesperson for the King County Prosecutor’s Office, summed it up best: “People expect more cases to be filed, and they want to know people are being held accountable for making roadways and businesses look like crap.”
And he’s right. No one’s happy about the state of our roads, least of all the people tasked with prosecuting those responsible.
“Prosecutors see it too,”McNerthney added. “We drive down the road and say, ‘Wow, this looks terrible. This looks way worse than it did 5, 10, or 15 years ago.’ I promise you, prosecutors are trying to do something.”
But as with many things in life, trying doesn’t always equate to results. The sheer volume of graffiti cases means that the number of prosecutions is dwarfed by the scale of the problem.
“The difficult part is with the thousands and thousands of graffiti marks we see all over the county, the number of cases being referred to us, even in a perfect scenario, are in the dozens,” McNerthney said.
And when cases are prosecuted, the penalties often don’t match the public’s frustration.
“The penalties under state law aren’t equal to the frustration people have. Malicious mischief is often charged as a Class C felony—the lowest level of felony. That could mean zero to 90 days for a first-time offender,” McNerthney explained.
McNerthney says an alleged prolific tagger who goes by “Wesh” will be arraigned on charges Monday, Sept. 9.
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The high cost of cleaning up the Seattle graffiti
While graffiti taggers are getting away with relatively light sentences, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is paying a steep price to clean up their mess. Last year, WSDOT spent $847,825.10 on graffiti removal statewide, and that number barely scratches the surface of what it would take to address the full scale of the problem.
Tina Werner, a spokesperson for WSDOT, says the department does what it can with the limited resources available, but the cost of cleaning and replacing vandalized signs adds up quickly.
“Generally, it costs anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 to replace a large overhead sign,” Werner explained. “That cost includes fabrication, materials, shipping, and the traffic control required to do the work.”
Even smaller signs, like “Do Not Enter” or “Wrong Way” signs, are frequently tagged and need to be replaced. “Crews often use special equipment to access the vandalized areas, like trucks with lifts to reach high places. This also requires lane closures during daylight hours. It’s a huge challenge when we’re trying to keep traffic moving,” Werner said.
It’s a vicious cycle. No sooner is a section cleaned up than the taggers return, often within hours, to re-stake their claim.
“Unfortunately, our crews often report that a location is tagged again within days or even hours of graffiti removal,” Werner said. “We aren’t a law enforcement agency and don’t have enforcement authority, so we have to partner with law enforcement, but they must catch someone in the act.”
A safety issue, not just an eyesore
The Washington State Patrol (WSP) is also dealing with the fallout from this graffiti epidemic. Chris Loftis, a spokesperson for the WSP, stressed that the graffiti is more than just a visual blight—it’s a safety hazard.
“When people can’t see the messages we put on the roadways for safety, they’re at risk,” Loftis said. “Graffiti decreases the safety of the entire system.”
Loftis pointed out important safety signs, like speed limits or directional signs, are often covered in spray paint, making them unreadable. The risks are clear.
“Graffiti on road signage is not just a nuisance—it’s unsafe and illegal. If we catch you, we’re going to put you in jail. That’s the bottom line,” Loftis said.
But catching taggers is no easy feat.
“By the time someone reports graffiti, the person responsible is usually long gone,” Loftis said. “Our system isn’t set up to catch taggers who are on foot. Our focus is on keeping the highways safe, so catching graffiti vandals is a challenge.”
There’s also the danger posed to WSP troopers who are forced to chase vandals on foot, often near busy highways.
“Every time our troopers get out of their vehicles to chase a graffiti vandal, they put themselves at great risk,” Loftis said. “It’s dangerous for the trooper, the person doing it, and everyone on the road.”
Graffiti can be seen on a highway divider on Interstate 5 in Seattle. (Photo: Charlie Harger, KIRO Newsradio)
The long road ahead
So, what’s being done to solve the problem? McNerthney, for one, assures us that work is happening behind the scenes.
“Even if it seems like not much is happening, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes. Seattle police, the state patrol, and prosecutors are constantly in contact to make sure the work is being done,” McNerthney said.
But he acknowledges that the public’s frustration is justified.
“We could use 10 times the resources we have, and we’d still have work to do. This problem is just that massive,” he said.
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Later this year, McNerthney said we can expect to hear about more cases, though he warns that it won’t be as many as people might hope.
“It won’t be as many as people want, but significant investigations are already underway.”
In the meantime, it seems Seattle’s highways will remain a battleground between WSDOT’s cleanup crews and the relentless wave of taggers. The roads, sadly, aren’t getting any cleaner anytime soon.
Seattle’s graffiti issue is more than just an eyesore, it’s a big, messy problem that affects safety and costs a ton to clean up. Despite the efforts of WSDOT and law enforcement, the sheer volume of tags makes it feel like an uphill battle. Until more resources and better strategies are in place, it looks like our highways will keep playing host to this ongoing graffiti war.
Charlie Harger is the news director for MyNorthwest and KIRO Newsradio. Follow Charlie on X here and email him here.
