Oh, wait. No, it doesn’t. A reader wrote in to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer because he was suspicious that a traffic arrow installed in the alley near his home wasn’t legit.

“Area residents, like myself, use the alley to rejoin the neighborhood arterials and frequently have difficulty going against the flow of the oncoming alley traffic,” Sarbach said. He said he’d “had several close calls as cars quickly turn into the alley off of Galer; my son and daughter have noticed a few impolite finger gestures from vehicles backing out of the alley onto Galer (Street) to clear (a) way for our vehicle.”

“It could only be a matter to time until there is an accident as the store is very, very busy most weeknights.”

The reader was right, it wasn’t a real traffic sign.

Wayne Wentz, Seattle’s traffic management director, said the city “only changes alleys to one way if there has been a process involving the property owners along the alley, and owners approve the change. This has not occurred for this location.”

Trader Joe’s didn’t respond to comment, but the manager said he’d take the arrow down. He claimed the arrow was put up because customers liked having traffic “one way.” That’s sort of hilarious, except for the part where the drivers gave the finger to children. Oh, wait. That’s funny, too. —MEGHANN MARCO

Getting There: Trader Joe’s sees the arrow of its ways [Seattle P-I] (Thanks, James!)
(Photo: Velo Steve)

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