WSDOT found a fix to illegal parking on the SEA Airport expressway. Then it took it away

The rampant illegal parking on the airport expressway is one of the most selfish and most dangerous things I see drivers do in our region.

Why am I bringing it up now? It’s not like this hasn’t been a problem forever, but KIRO Newsradio listener Bernie hit me up a few weeks ago asking why these drivers aren’t ticketed and towed to send a message.

And since I haven’t done a story on this since Memorial Day 2023, here we go.

Let’s start with the basics. I’m talking about the expressway into the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) from SR 518. Drivers routinely park on the shoulder illegally while waiting to pick people up. Why is this so dangerous? Drivers are pulling out from the shoulder into traffic going 60 miles an hour, and it’s not necessary. There’s a great cell phone holding lot just up the road.

Why is this so hard to fix?

100 tickets a day, and it still hasn’t changed driver behavior

First, you have to realize that multiple agencies control that road. It’s Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) property up to the top of the hill. The rest of the drive is controlled by the Port of Seattle. There are different philosophies on how to attack the problem and different levels of enforcement.

And yes, the agencies work together.

And both the Port of Seattle and WSDOT have added better striping and no parking signs.

Drivers just don’t seem to care.

The Port of Seattle’s Perry Cooper said they’ve been working on this issue for years.

“We’ve actually had some enforcement periods where we’ve written as many as 100 tickets a day out there, and it really hasn’t changed the behavior,” Cooper said.

The Washington State Patrol (WSP) said it has troopers roll through that area multiple times a day to write tickets and clear the illegally parked cars, but it doesn’t stop the behavior.

‘I saw everybody else doing it, so I figured it was OK’

What is the most common response from drivers as they are ticketed while sitting in front of the giant “no parking” signs?

“There are plenty of signs there along that space along 518, and the response typically becomes, ‘Oh, I saw everybody else doing it, so I figured it was OK,'” Cooper said.

And many drivers just pull away when they see Port of Seattle police or WSP show up. The ticket is only $50 on the Port of Seattle property, $30 for the section the state controls.

Cones eliminated illegal parking during World Cup

WSDOT did tackle this problem head-on during the World Cup. It put up cones on its section of road for about a month. It worked great. Illegal shoulder parking was eliminated, but WSDOT spokesperson James Poling said that was just a temporary fix.

Why not make it permanent?

“The cones were just a temporary solution, and using that as a permanent solution was not deemed viable,” Poling said.

Not viable, though it was successful.

Port of Seattle spokesperson Perry Cooper thought it was a great idea.

“We were really encouraged to see that,” Cooper said.  “When they were doing that, it looks like it was something that was a good solution, but we understand that they’ve got challenges from their end as well too.”

Drivers have to do better

It sounds like the police could write tickets all day, every day and not solve the problem, and WSDOT doesn’t want to use a tool that worked really well.

So it comes down to us, the drivers using the airport expressway. We have to do better. Drivers who do this know they are breaking the law. They know they are causing unsafe conditions on the road, for themselves and others, but they don’t care.

Like many of the bad and unsafe behaviors we see on the roads, it comes down to selfish and arrogant drivers thinking the rules don’t apply to them.

Chris Sullivan is a traffic reporter for KIRO Newsradio. Read more of his stories here. Follow KIRO Newsradio traffic on X.

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