Update: Are Traffic Calming Methods on SE 32nd Street Sufficient?

Update: The Sammamish Police Department provided some additional information about the Friday, Jan. 4 accident:

At about 1:25 pm a Chevy pickup was traveling westbound on SE 32nd St.  In the 22100 block, the truck veered to the right and struck a legally parked vehicle on the right shoulder.  The driver overcorrected, crossed both lanes and struck a retention pond fence on the south side of the road.

The driver, a 44-year-old Redmond man, stated he was distracted by the sun in his eyes and was adjusting his visor when the collision occurred.  A witness who lives nearby said the driver appeared to be traveling at or near the speed limit at the time of the collision.  The driver was cited for improper lane travel.

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Original story:

A Friday afternoon accident on 32nd Street SE has some residents concerned about the effects of removing a barricade that once divided the street.

Lisa Patnode's niece was watching her four children at their home Friday afternoon when when an eastbound truck hit her niece's parked car, careening across the westbound lane and crashing into a retaining pond fence.

Sammamish Police had not determined the cause of the accident as of Friday afternoon and the driver was not taken to the hospital, but both Patnode and Sammamish resident Bob Post expressed concern over the higher speeds and increased traffic on the street since the barricade was removed.

In an email to Sammamish-Issaquah Patch, Post said, "Many of my neighbors and me opposed the removal of the barricade and warned the City that SE 32nd Street is a high pedestrian street as many students use it to walk to school.  If that accident had been a half an hour later, many children would have been present and who knows what might have happened.  The increased car traffic and the number of speeding cars is a real problem for this corridor.  The City needs to do more to protect our kids and slow these cars down."

Patnode said her children no longer ride their bikes on what once was a quiet street, and several of her neighbors have either sold their homes or plan to. She said she and her family have hoped to move, but finding another home in Sammamish with a backyard large enough for four kids has been a challenge.

Patnode said she doesn't believe the three traffic circles installed east of her home, nearer to 228th Ave., adequately address the issue of higher speed traffic on the Eastbound lane.

Several dozen barricades in Sammamish were remnants of pre-incorporation. A post upgrade traffic study presented to the city last February indicated that the typical speed of cars driving through that section is 30 to 32 mph. The posted speed is 25 mph, and Patnode said she believes a speed bump approximately in the area where the barricade was could help slow vehicles there.

Do you think the barricade removal on 32nd Street SE has improved connectivity? Is it worth the cost in increased traffic and noise on the street?