Did Seattle DOT falsely use people’s emotions to help sell a project?
Jul 22, 2016, 3:48 PM | Updated: 4:30 pm

Construction on the SW Admiral Way Safety Project is scheduled to begin in late summer or early fall. (SDOT)
(SDOT)
The Seattle Department of Transportation is celebrating its plans for a busy corridor in West Seattle. But one of the justifications for the project may have been modified by the department.
In a press release published on the , the city writes that people are “driving too fast along SW Admiral Way, crashing into parked cars, and residents are afraid.”
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The department goes on to say, “In fact, one mother choked up at our first public meeting at the thought of walking her children across SW Admiral Way.”
Though a mother may have choked up, the city’s statement doesn’t tell the whole story. According to the , the mother who “choked up” during a public meeting while she was speaking was actually talking about how the department’s proposal to remove parking in front of her house would impact her family’s daily life. It was the potential removal of parking that would then force her to cross the busy street with her children that upset her.
The project, known as the Admiral Way Safety Project, runs from California Avenue SW to 63rd Avenue SW. Construction on the project is scheduled to begin in late summer or early fall. Before that happens, however, the city is hosting “Walk and Talk” meetings in August as a “second round of targeted outreach.”