Morning commuters in Juanita were delayed Jan. 5 after a pedestrian was struck crossing a busy arterial road, suffering serious injuries.
According to Sheriff’s spokesperson Sgt. John Urquhart, the injured man was trying to cross Northeast Juanita Drive at 116th Place around 8 a.m. when he was struck by a Chrysler mini-van in the westbound lane. The driver, a 41-year-old Bothell woman, stayed at the scene until the authorities arrived. She was not detained.
King County Sheriff’s Office detectives Jim Leach and Dave Wells conducted the on-scene investigation.
A nearby resident, Damien Alsman, said he was outside on his third-floor porch looking toward Juanita Drive when he heard a “loud crash” and witnessed a disturbing sight.
“He kinda flew in the air a little bit, so I’m sure he’s a little hurt,” he said. “I’ve seen several accidents on this bend here.”
Paramedics took the victim to Harborview Medical Center under serious condition where he was treated and later released. A spokesperson for his employer later said he suffered a few cuts, bruises and a mild concussion.
Sgt. Urquhart said the accident remains under investigation and no arrests or citations have been made.
Electrician Mike Butler, along with a few other construction workers at the site, said cars regularly exceed the posted 25-mph speed limit and ignore temporary slow signs erected on the curbside to the west of the site.
“We’ve seen ‘em doing 40 and 50 mph down this road.”
The 36-year-old construction worker from Clackamas, Ore., was trying to reach a building site for the Juanita Point Condominiums at 9119 N.E. Juanita Drive, slated to be a seven-story, 50,000-square-foot building of 18 high-end dwellings, where he worked on erecting scaffolding at the site. The busy roadway is in unincorporated King County and has no crosswalk at the intersection.
Site superintendent Hollis Beebe said it’s common practice for the 10-20 employees working there to park their vehicles on the street nearby and walk across the roadway.
“I guess he didn’t see the woman in the van coming up the road,” he said. “It’s a busy road, no doubt about it.”
