Save this email address: [email protected]

The city’s Access Seattle program wants you to email whenever you encounter a construction zone that you find hazardous. No walking path? No way to safely cross the street to access an open walkway? Signs placed in the middle of the bike lane or sidewalk? Dangerous bike wheel-grabbing seams or ruts in the temporary street surface? Email Access Seattle and let them know.

With so many projects going at the same time, it’s easy for crews to knowingly or unknowingly fail to properly accommodate people who need to get around their construction. Some crews are better than others, and some may not actually know the rules. But no construction company wants to be responsible for an injury (or worse).

Readers sometimes tell me about their efforts to contact construction companies to address concerns directly, and results vary dramatically form firm to firm. So it’s great that the city is trying to get this email out there so they can do that work for residents. Some firms may just take them more seriously.

Details from the SDOT Blog:

Have you heard of Access Seattle? You’ve likely seen its results in the form of better access around construction sites, with much of the assessing and coordinating done before construction begins. The effort to keep Seattle mobile and thriving during construction booms involves the Construction Hub Coordination Program and works in part because of you — eyes on the street. Site Coordinators are out regularly in the hub areas, partnering with Street Use inspectors across the city, to identify and help resolve infractions and hazards. More identified hubs are expected soon, but SDOT’s Street Use staff respond to access concerns regardless of location. Many concerns are raised by you – the collective community experiencing construction impacts regularly where you live, work and travel. To collaborate more with you, save the team’s email, [email protected], to your mobile phone and email when/if you see things like… All of the infractions shown above were rectified by the Access Seattle team, along with a host of others across the city. There are of course many examples of great construction site management and contractor efforts to lessen the impacts of their work on the community. We’ll talk about that in weeks to come, along with more infraction highlights and their remedies. In the meantime, know that Access Seattle is always working for you, negotiating for things like better pedestrian access when a project proposes closing sidewalks entirely; bringing multiple projects together to talk about ways to contribute to neighborhood needs, like street parking; or arranging for methods to improve project sites to lessen negative impacts like littering and tagging. The small but nimble team is on it, and looking to grow with you.