Cars Keep Slamming into the Wall on this Freeway Exit

Cars Keep Slamming into the Wall on this Freeway Exit

This is the I-5 Union Street off ramp (Exit 165B), near the Seattle Convention Center. Drivers enter the off ramp at 60mph, but fail to slow down to 20mph for the sharp nearly 90 degree turn up ahead. This is causing drivers to slam against the tunnel wall and slide along the wall as they exit, and even go through the intersection and potentially hitting pedestrians crossing the road or on the sidewalk.

The Convention Center looms over the freeway, covering it right around where most of the downtown exits are, creating a disorienting short period of darkness and confusion and for southbound I-5 drivers, trying to exit at Union Street (Exit 165B), it can be downright dangerous.

There are approximately 464 feet of roadway from the gore of the exit to the center of the sharp curve where the accidents are occurring. This means that a car travelling 60 miles per hour, which is the speed limit of I-5 directly before the exit, would give the driver around 5.25 seconds to slow the vehicle's speed. There are also several warnings to drivers to slow down: a 30 mph sign at the solid white line before the exit, a 20 mph sign before the exit gore, a 20 mph warning below the exit sign, a stoplight warning sign, several arrows and chevrons, as well as reflective markings on the concrete barriers.