Editor:
Walking to Saturday Market just off of Main and in spite of my walking sticks, I caught my toe on uneven sidewalk resulting in a dramatic face plant. Two men rushed to help, the tall and very strong man literally lifted me from a crumpled mass to standing in one elegant move (sure hope he didn’t strain his back) while the other man rushed to his nearby car and provided multiple wet wipes and bundles of tissue to stanch the blood streaming down my face from a tiny cut in my eyebrow.
Of course I expressed gratitude to both helpers as I hobbled off to home (less than a block away). Would like to say a big Thank You again to them and let everyone else know there are heroes on the streets of Edmonds! A day later my wrist and knee are a bit sore and can barely see the cut in my eyebrow thanks to these gracious gentlemen.
Samantha Saether
Edmonds
Samantha, I’m so sorry to her about your trip and fall accident on a downtown Edmonds sidewalk. Please describe exactly where your accident happened so that information can be highlighted for the City’s sidewalk repair crew. It must be fixed immediately. Accidents like this just shouldn’t be happening in our city.
One complaint I consistently hear from Edmonds voters is the poor condition of our sidewalks; trip hazards all over the place. Keeping sidewalks in safe repair must become a priority in Edmonds, and if I’m elected to City Council in November, I’ll work to make that happen.
I am very sorry Ms. Saether that you had to fall and wish you a speedy recovery. I have sent pictures, locations, witnessed people stumbling and highlighted this danger of falling downtown for a long time. Yes, you are correct in the folks that helped you, most people are good. Thank you for writing in. I am very sorry it took a fall and so sad to hear this. Folks should be safe to walk on sidewalks with all the markets, events, and all the added foot traffic walking to and from civic field. I don’t live downtown and it needs to be safe for all. We are told to park away and walk. Well, it needs to be safe on sidewalks to accomplish that.
As someone who has very real vision problems, including blind spots that cover the lower third of both eyes I have had more than my share of sidewalk falls. So far I have been fortunate enough to bounce, but at 77 the danger of serious damage is very real. I thought it was just me, but now I know that this really is also a potential problem for all sidewalkers I will have to be even more than usually vigilant. This might actually make me use the long white cane that I have been issued with and trained how to use.
Sorry this happened to you Samantha. Shame on the Edmonds City Govt. and the mayor for not keeping our sidewalks walkable without the threat of an injury.
Sidewalk repair must be a top priority in any City. Otherwise there are injuries – some very serious.
There are many many painted cracks and high/low spots already identified on our
sidewalks. Where is the priority to fix them?
We may not have decent sidewalks, but we have installed tire busters at most every intersection. The one at 196th and 80th is a real beauty!
Sorry, there is no money in the budget to fix roads and sidewalks. We have an over priced property up on Hwy 99 that our mayor and his faithful crew say we have to act on ASAP, or lose out forever. Oh, and just for good measure the seller gets to tell us what we can and can’t do with it. Only $37 million dollars too. We are also working on promising to buy a beach property from WSDOT that might be highly polluted and contaminated with petroleum product that we will probably have to pay to clean up after we purchase it. Man these people are great negotiators.