Can a Radar Speed Sign Change a Neighborhood?

That’s the $953,500* question in Madison Park, Seattle.

I live in Madison Park, along with several other Zillowites. It’s a great neighborhood, just minutes away from downtown Seattle. What makes it unique is that Madison Street (the main arterial) comes to an abrupt halt at  Lake Washington, and the recently renovated park of Madison Park is a great coda to the street. Unfortunately, despite the fact that Madison Street isn’t a through street, there is still a lot of traffic on Madison.

So last week, the City of Seattle installed a radar speed sign, which displays the speed you’re going as you zoom down the hill. When they installed it last week, there was a 30 MPH speed limit (as you can see in the photo). During the first week, most cars seemed to exceed the 30 MPH limit, despite the flashing lights that the sign emits when you disobey it. Yesterday, the speed limit was changed to 25 MPH and the sign was replaced. I didn’t know it was that easy! No proclamation by the mayor; no vote before the city council, no neighborhood gathering. Just snap,  crackle, pop, and the speed limit changed. The 25 MPH limit seems to be working much better, and I’m optimistic that the sign will slow traffic down on Madison Street, which will make the neighborhood even more livable and will help with street noise.

This isn’t just an academic issue — it’s serious business for residents of Madison Park. For example, I live very near a home for sale which is having a hard time partly due to the street noise on Madison. 1519 39th Avenue East, Seattle is a great home for sale, but check out the Home Q&A on Zillow in which the street noise issue is discussed.

Here’s hopin’ that The Sign wins and people slow down.

*$953,500 is the Zillow Home Value Index — or the median of all home values in Madison Park.