Neighbors once again call for Aurora Ave. guard rail after driver crashes into condo

It happened again.

Neighbors tell KIRO 7 a driver crashed into their condo building along Aurora Avenue near Crockett Street Saturday, the sixth driver to hit the building in about five years.

"We're really lucky that the person whose building got ran into – they weren't home, because that was their bedroom window,” said Pushpa Agr, who lives in the building.

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Agr and other neighbors said drivers are going faster than the posted 40 mph speed limit through a curve in Aurora Avenue where her building is located.

"You're just hoping someone isn't going to freaking run into you,” said Agr. “It's very, very scary."

KIRO 7 has reported on crashes into the building before. Prior to Saturday’s crash, neighbors said the most recent crash happened last September.

That’s when KIRO 7 took neighbors’ concerns to Seattle Department of Transportation, which told us it was assessing whether to make safety improvements in the area.

Neighbors want the guard rail to be extended along Aurora Avenue to better protect the building, people walking on the sidewalk and drivers who lose control.

"When it happened in September, we contacted the city and they said that they were going to build a guardrail but we haven't heard anything back from them,” said condo board member Nishant Madichetti.

Some neighbors fear safety improvement may come too late.

"What is it going to take for them to actually change something?" said Agr.

KIRO 7 reached out to SDOT to ask about that status of safety improvements on what those upgrades would entail. We did not immediately hear back.

One neighbor said they feel speeding has only gotten worse with the opening of the new Highway 99 tunnel.

A spokesperson for WSDOT told KIRO 7 they were not aware of a speeding issue on the stretch of Aurora Avenue near Crockett Street related to the new tunnel.

Cox Media Group