'I have seen a couple T-bone accidents:' West Seattle neighbor raises concern over RVs blocking visibility
SEATTLE - A woman in West Seattle is raising concerns about driving safely through an intersection in her neighborhood.
Aubrey Corsetti said it’s nearly impossible to see oncoming traffic on Yancy St SW near Andover St SW after an RV encampment expanded and started blocking visibility. She drives this route daily and said she often has to creep out into the middle of the intersection to see if there’s oncoming traffic.
"I have seen a couple T-bone accidents, a couple head-on collisions, just right here," said Corsetti. "Once you get up to like right here, you basically need to stop in the middle [of the intersection]… 95 percent of the time there’s going to be an RV or boat put right here, so unfortunately it is quite an issue."
Corsetti and other neighbors in the area told FOX 13 News the RVs and tents became noticeable at the start of the pandemic and now two years later the encampment has grown substantially.
We counted over a dozen RV’s and tents lining the streets.
The City of Seattle responded to an email inquiry and said:
"The area that the community member has mentioned is a known encampment area. In this case, we would recommend the community member submit a request through the Customer Service Bureau here: http://www.seattle.gov/customer-service-bureau
"There are various city departments that interact with people living in vehicles. For example, Seattle Public Utilities manages the RV Remediation Program, Human Services Department manages the HOPE Team, and Seattle Parks and Recreation deals with encampments on their land including some roads and paths inside parks."
"You can’t park in front of your own house for three days without getting towed, but you can be here for months on end and nothing happens," said Corsetti. "Ideally, if we could either move them out or push them back further, just so that the visibility doesn’t cause any more damage than it already has."
The City of Seattle also provided background points on parking enforcement:
- Since SDOT resumed enforcement of the 72-hour rule in mid-October, our initial focus has been on clearing unoccupied abandoned vehicles.
- The first step of 72-hour rule enforcement for any type of vehicle is to leave an official warning notice giving the vehicle owner at least 72 hours to move their vehicle. If it appears that people may be living in one of these vehicles, depending on the circumstances, we may work with Human Service Department to provide the occupants with information about assistance, support services, and resources. If the vehicle is still there 3 days later, the vehicle may be issued a citation.
- Members of the parking enforcement team are careful to look out for any signs that someone may be living in a vehicle when they are enforcing the 72-hour rule. A warning notice is always left at least 72 hours before a citation is issued, and team members always visit the vehicle on two different days creating the opportunity for people to let us know if they are living in a vehicle.
- For parking regulations other than the 72-hour rule, the parking enforcement team issues warnings and citations to all vehicles consistently. For example, this includes vehicles violating posted parking signs or otherwise leaving cars where parking is never allowed (like blocking fire hydrants, driveways, or transit lanes). Whether a vehicle is impounded would depend in part on the type of violation, and whether it was presenting a hazard or obstruction to others.
- If there is a group of 5 or more RVs in one location, then Seattle Public Utilities’ RV Remediation program would be the lead organization. In either case, the Scofflaw Mitigation Team or Vehicle Residency Outreach may become involved and would likely work directly with staff at another City department.
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