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Cars keep crashing into apartment complex on Aurora; residents call on SDOT for fix

By Deedee Sun, KIRO 7 News
By Deedee Sun, KIRO 7 News

An apartment complex at Aurora and Crockett is plagued by cars veering off the road and crashing into it.

The Home Owners Association for the building at 655 Crockett says it's tried for years to get the city to take action, with no luck. They reached out to KIRO 7, saying if something doesn't change, someone's going to get hurt.

The latest crash happened earlier this week, and people at the complex say they are fed up with being a drive-thru.

“It’s actually happened a total of five times,” said Rick Jones, who’s on the HOA board with the building.

That’s five crashes in as many years.

“It’s extremely dangerous,” Jones said.

KIRO 7 cameras were there for the latest crash early Monday morning. A Subaru slammed into the building, leaving a gaping hole, and took out a telephone pole along the way.

“That’s the taillight,” said Nick Anaya, a foreman with Tatley-Grund Inc.

“And there’s the car mat,” he said, picking up pieces of the vehicle and putting it into a trash bag.

He’s the contractor who keeps having to come back to clean up and fix up the building.

“This is probably the worst by far I've seen here,” Anaya said.

A view of the damage from the inside shows the crash took out pipes to the building's sprinkler system, and left part of the building exposed to the outside.

“So right now we are unprotected,” Jones said.

He said the HOA has been trying to work with SDOT for the past three years.

“It has been very frustrating. We've sat down to try and figure out what the options are, and so far the  city hasn't been willing to cooperate at all to help solve the problem,” Jones said.

Less than 100 yards away from where the crashes keep happening, there is a guardrail along Aurora northbound, but it ends shy of the 655 Crockett building. People in that building say they want to see the city extend this guardrail to offer them some protection.

Jones said part of the problem is drivers speed on Aurora, then fail to navigate the curve right before the apartment.

KIRO 7’s Deedee Sun brought a radar gun and in just a couple of minutes, found drivers going 55 in a 40.

“It is a danger to life and limb,” Jones said. He and Anaya both said drivers frequently top 60 mph that stretch of Aurora, especially at night.

Jones shared a photo of the previous crash from last year, where a car smashed through glass windows and ended up in the hallway.

“A hallway and units where people live. That's been terrifying for them,” Jones said.

Just as KIRO 7’s Deedee Sun was about to leave the site, an SDOT employee showed up to take measurements.

He couldn't talk on camera, but the SDOT said via email it is starting an assessment process to decide whether safety enhancements are needed.

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