SEATTLE — Seattle City Council passed legislation Tuesday that aims to crack down on street racing by designating more city blocks as "restricted racing zones."
The measure passed the full council 8-1.
If designated a racing zone, a 2022 state law allows the Seattle Department of Transportation to install automated speed cameras. However, Tuesday's vote does not lay out how the cameras will be paid for or when they could be installed.
These are the 10 streets around Seattle that will be designated as restricted racing zones:
- Alki Ave SW between 63rd Ave SW and Harbor Ave SW.
- Harbor Ave SW between Alki Ave SW and SW Spokane St.
- West Marginal Way SW between SW Spokane St and 2nd Ave SW.
- Sand Point Way NE between 38th Ave NE and NE 95th St.
- NE 65th St between Sand Point Way NE and Magnuson Park.
- Roadways inside Magnuson Park including, but not limited to, NE 65th St and Lake
- Seaview Ave NW between Golden Gardens Park and 34th Ave NW.
- 3rd Ave NW between Leary Way NW and N 145th St.
- Martin Luther King Jr Way S between S Massachusetts St and S Henderson St.
- Rainier Ave S from S Jackson St south to the city limits
Some neighbors in problem areas like Harbor Ave SW say the racing is constant.
"This was NASCAR central," said West Seattle resident Steve Pumphrey.
Hours before the Seattle City Council met Tuesday, at least two cars going high speeds could be seen along Harbor Ave around 5 a.m.
The proposal passed unanimously out of the council's Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities Committee last Tuesday.