Response to 9-hour downtown traffic jam was ‘pathetic’
Apr 29, 2015, 1:46 PM | Updated: Apr 30, 2015, 5:53 am
The City of Seattle said an insurance adjuster was on the scene of the March 24 crash that blocked traffic for nine hours. (Photo courtesy of Seattle Department of Transportation)
(Photo courtesy of Seattle Department of Transportation)
It turns out the reason it took so long to clear a tipped semi-truck on Highway 99 in downtown Seattle didn’t have to do with fears of damaging the road.
The City of Seattle said it couldn’t move a fish-toting semi that rolled on southbound 99 in March because pushing it would cause damages and increase the possibility of releasing a load of fish all over the roadway.
Though the city’s reasons for not wanting to push the truck had to do with fish, it wasn’t quite what representatives claimed. According to Seattle Police Department counsel Krista Bryan Maxie, an insurance adjuster was at the site and said he did not want the $3.2 million worth of fish to spill out.
“The reason [traffic] was paralyzed is because the response was pathetic,” KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson said Wednesday.
Listen: Dori says Seattle’s agenda pushed during SR 99 crash
The city originally said it didn’t want fish to spill out because then there would be fish oil everywhere. That would mean keeping the road closed until the fish were all cleaned up. The other argument for not pushing the truck and its trailer out of the way was it would scratch up the pavement.
“I think what the incident from Tuesday highlights is that we actually do a good job of incident response,” SDOT director Scott Kubly told Dori two days after the crash.
A month later and the city is admitting it could have been handled differently.
The reason for the poor response is because it pushes the agenda of some city officials, Dori said. The city “despises” drivers, he added.
“If an insurance adjuster came up to me … I would say get the bleep out of here,” Dori said. “You are not going to have a say when you have people sitting in their cars for nine hours.”
The news of the city’s handling of the horrendous traffic congestion caused by a single truck sparked response from more than Dori on Wednesday.
KIRO Radio’s Tom Tangney and John Curley discussed the city’s plan, or lack thereof.
“There’s all this traffic backed up — people are honking and mad — and the insurance guy says ‘Hey guys, there’s a lot of fish in there and if you move it I’m gonna have to write a check and I’m going to have to pay for this,” Curley said.
The new information sparked a performance by KIRO Radio’s Tom Tangney and John Curley. You can listen to the entire reenactment here.
