Local

Semi-truck jackknifes after hitting Fremont utility pole

Andrew Myers says his cameras were pointed as the semi carrying construction equipment tried to negotiate a turn onto N 39th Street going southbound on Aurora Avenue.

Surveillance cameras on a Fremont home caught a truck jackknifing and spilling it's load onto Aurora Avenue Monday morning.
 
Andrew Myers says his cameras were pointed as the semi carrying construction equipment tried to negotiate a turn onto N 39th Street going southbound on Aurora Avenue.
 
He's surprised no one else in rush hour traffic was hurt.
 
"His ratchet straps completely explode. His two ratchet straps explode. I saw him over there sweeping up," Myers said.
 
That was the second of such accidents Myers caught on his cameras in just one week on that same corner.
 
"It looks like he would have gotten by, but you can see it caught this piece and it jars the whole pole," Myers said, reviewing his video.
 
It's a story no stranger to neighbors in Fremont.
 
They say semi-trucks commonly use N 39th Street as a cut through to Leary Way and on to Ballard.
 
Mike Eddy has a front seat from his motorcycle shop on Aurora Avenue.
 
"Yesterday there was a big truck that parked in the middle of 99, in the middle lane, and stopped and put his flashers on sat there for probably 10 or 15 minutes," Eddy said, "I don't think it was built for that traffic, big truck traffic, but I don't know where else they'd go."
 
He notes that while Aurora is a six-lane state highway, N 39th Street is a cramped two-way residential street.
 
After Monday's incident, Seattle City Light replaced the pole, moving it several feet back to hopefully save it from future accidents, but Eddy says that potential is always there.
 
"It's still going to be a tight corner, no matter what they do," he said.