In an effort to stop illegal street racing, Renton police are shutting down sections of two major city streets at night on the weekends.
The closures will happen along "problem" roads on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. starting Friday, May 11 into the foreseeable future.
One of the streets is Oakesdale Avenue between SW 16th St. and SW 41st St. The other street is SW 27th St. between Lind Ave. SW and Oakesdale Ave. SW.
Street racing has been an ongoing problem for the city. Two years ago, a street race ended in a fiery crash that sent three people to the hospital. A King County Sheriff's Office helicopter captured the crash on video.
The city has received a high number of complaints regarding street racing since last year, according to The Renton Reporter. At a meeting in August 2011, a police spokesperson said it was common to see as many as 100 racers take to the streets, and more than 400 on warm, summer days. And they've arrested as many as 218 people in one night.
In the past, RPD has tried several tactics to stop the street racing, such as increasing moving and non-moving violations, patrols, criminal arrests, and doing undercover operations, but they were short-term solutions. So they hope this new strategy is a long-term answer.
“The goal of the new approach is to make Renton a not-sought-after place for street racing…. Our goal is to push them out and get (racers) to go and be somebody else’s problem,” Renton Police Department Commander Chad Karlewicz said, according to the Renton Reporter.
