March 29

Staircase heading to Thornton Creek collapses

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5  comments

What a difference a winter makes. Last summer, we posted the above photo of the pedestrian staircase where 20th Avenue Northeast ends at Northeast 98th Street.

Reader Seth Myers sent us the following photos of what the staircase heading down to Thornton Creek now looks like:

And no, we’re not talking about the lack of greenery, but rather the huge chasm now in the middle of the staircase.

Although the staircase is closed for the time being, we’re still waiting to hear back from the Seattle Department of Transportation about what exactly happened, and what the fate of the staircase will be.

Click below for a view of the staircase from the side, to see just how bad it is. Thanks for the photos, Seth.

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  1. I wish this story included a map of the site – I am having trouble picturing exactly where this stairway is.

    I think the city ought to build an integrated pedestrian/bicycle bridge across Lake City Way where WESCO Auto Body Supply is. This seems to me to be a natural, since there are steep hills on both sides of LCW at this point. The resulting pedestrian bridge could be quite attractive, and if integrated properly (i.e. no stairs, long, gradual inclines) would be very easy to use.

  2. I walk in that area frequently and have noticed that in addition to the staircase collapsing, the entire hillside is slumping toward Thornton Creek. The creek only has 1-2 feet to pass through this area (just east of the staircase), where it used to have at least double that. I’m worried that with this heavy rain, the hill will continue to slide and completely block the creek.

  3. It’s a long way around on Lake City Way, and it’s frequently used by kids & parents on their way to & from Sacajawea. For safety and convenience, I hope they fix it soon.

  4. I use that walkway to go to and from work during the Spring and Summer. I’m bummed. I hope that it’s repaired sooner than later. It’s a great connection from Victory Heights to Maple Leaf and a much safer walking route. Please keep us posted on this.

  5. I hope the people living above and below that staircase have good homeowners’ insurance, because the city can’t keep that hill from eroding indefinitely. The upper roadway has already collapsed once, and with the vibrations from all the heavy traffic on the upper street, I’m betting within ten years the whole hillside will slide away (unless an earthquake does that sooner). They ought to cut the street off and plant a wide variety of native plants with different root depths to save the slope.

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