SDOT director: Future of Aurora Bridge shouldn’t be based on ‘one horrific event’
Oct 5, 2015, 12:25 PM | Updated: 3:27 pm
People with bandaged arms stand next to a bus that was involved in the fatal crash with a Ride the Ducks tour bus and several other vehicles on Sept. 24 in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
(AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Improving safety on the Aurora Bridge shouldn’t just be based on one crash that killed five people, according to the director of the Seattle Department of Transportation.
Over the past several years, a few studies of the Aurora corridor have been completed, including those by SDOT and the Washington State Department of Transportation. Changes focused on safety have been made, Scott Kubly pointed out during a city council meeting on Tuesday.
“I think the important thing to note is that any decisions that we make around how to improve safety on this bridge need to be driven by the data more broadly, versus one horrific event,” Kubly said.
That “horrific event” Kubly is referencing is the Sept. 24 crash on the Aurora Bridge between a charter bus and Ride the Ducks vehicle. The two vehicles were traveling in opposite directions when the Duck vehicle lost control and slammed into the middle of the bus. The National Transportation Safety Board began its investigation the next day.
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Though the NTSB’s investigation will take up to a year, it already found that the Duck vehicle did not have a fix that was recommended for some of the amphibious vehicles in 2013. Witnesses to the crash described the vehicle’s left-front tire locking up before it veered into the bus. If the cause of the crash is related to that fix, then the bridge itself might not be to blame.
However, the Aurora Bridge has been studied. Its lanes are on the narrow end, measuring at 9.5 feet wide. Most freeway lanes are about 12 feet wide. A study by WSDOT shows that the lanes are so narrow that large vehicles take up more than one lane when driving across the bridge. In addition to that, a lack of a median barrier and risks taken by drivers have increased the chances for crashes, the study notes. The study proposed that the lanes be widened to 11.5 feet and a barrier added to the bridge.
Exactly what data is needed before changes are made is not clear. Kubly did note that there was a 20 percent reduction in collisions in 2008, compared to 2005. Fatal collisions reduced by 18 percent.
