Archive for the 'issues' Category

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Vote for the Worst Intersection in Seattle in 2012

March 18, 2012: published by Troy Heerwagen at 9:22 pm - 3 Comments

The nominations are in and we have a large group of terrible places for peds, cyclists, and motorists who want to get around a safe and comfortable way. Here are this year’s nominees for the Worst Intersection in Seattle (click on images to see map):

Pine and Boren near downtown – “Dangerous for cyclists and remarkably unpleasant for pedestrians for an intersection that’s unavoidable for the commute of thousands of us.” (nominated by Hans Gerwitz)
Raye St / Queen Anne Dr / 4th Ave N / 6th Ave N in Queen Anne – “This is a 6-way intersection, controlled by all-way stop signs, with no sidewalks, and is filled with cars. Completely chaotic atmosphere on foot or on a bicycle.” (nominated by Louis)
Broadway and Terrace St in Capitol Hill – “The crosswalk is NOT striped yet it is a busy intersection with people crossing to/from the #9 bus stop for Harborview. Lots of elderly folks too … and drivers WILL NOT STOP for people crossing because they are in too much of a hurry to make the light at Broadway/Boren.” (nominated by Gordon Werner)
5th Ave and Denny Way – “My vote is for 5th Avenue and Denny Way. Or as I call it, the 5th Avenue onramp.” (nominated by Ryan on Summit)
Montlake and 520 – “It stinks no matter what your mode of transportation. Crowded roads, terrible pavement, many crossings.” (nominated by Mike)
Eastlake and Harvard – “The trip north isn’t so horrible (relatively speaking), but going south over the University Bridge, then quickly merging into traffic and across two lanes is nightmarish. Cars are dodging backed-up left-turn traffic at Fuhrman, bicycles are moving fast on the downhill with visibility limited by the bridge, and the street is a torn up mess. At least most of the grit from after the snow has been cleared out of the bike lane.” (nominated by Jason)
15th Ave and John St – “This intersection is rather bizarre as the street grid on either side of 15th Ave doesn’t match up. John and Thomas (on the other side of 15th) are rather busy arterials that carry two of Metro’s busiest bus routes (8 & 43) plus a huge amount of cars trying to access the neighborhood and Group Health. Typically cars trying to go east to west have to make a right turn on the red light at 15th onto John try speeding around the corner while pedestrians have a walk signal.” (nominated by Chris Mobley)
37th Ave E & Lake Washington Blvd & E Harrison St – “No crosswalks or other clear intersection markings, limited visibility for and of cars coming up the hill on Lk WA Blvd, most cars speeding. This might seem like an intersection in the boonies, but this is the flattest way to get from Madrona and Leschi to the Montlake Bridge or University Bridge.” (nominated by Maggie)
35th Ave SW & Avalon in West Seattle – “Terrible for walking and biking. It has heavy traffic, no bike lanes, badly marked crosswalks, and there has been no sidewalk on the southeast corner for several years.” (nominated by Peter)
15th and Beacon Ave in Beacon Hill – Long light cycles and long crossing distances make for an intersection worth avoiding if you can. (nominated via Twitter by @BeaconBIKES, commentary by Troy)
Lafayette Ave and Spokane St – Would be a perfect way to access Jefferson Park from the residential area, except there are four lanes of speeding traffic to cross, there is no marked crosswalk, and there is no sidewalk on the south side of the street. (nominated via Twitter by @BeaconBIKES, commentary by Troy)

[poll id=”15″]

Note: Poll will close on April 1st.

3 Comments. Tags: intersection, poll, Worst Intersection in Seattle. issues

Nominate your worst intersection in Seattle in 2012

March 5, 2012: published by Troy Heerwagen at 12:14 pm - 9 Comments

Nominations have been received – you can vote here

It’s time to submit your nominations for worst pedestrian intersection in Seattle. Last year you all voted Aurora Ave and John/Thomas/Harrison/Republican as the worst intersections in Seattle.

Go ahead and comment on this post to submit your nomination and tell us why it’s the worst. The criteria for “worst” intersection is your own – this could be an intersection with poor signaling, missing sidewalks, safety issues, and maybe is one you have to use every day.

The deadline for nominees is March 18 and after that we’ll put the most-nominated spots up to a vote.

9 Comments. Tags: intersection, Worst Intersection in Seattle. issues

Road diet on Nickerson found to improve safety, will other streets get a road diet?

March 1, 2012: published by Troy Heerwagen at 9:01 pm - 2 Comments

SDOT has released a report on the Nickerson St road diet and found that by reducing the number of lanes for cars, safety has improved. Collisions, overall vehicle speeds, and the number of speeders have been reduced with minimal impact to traffic volumes. The Mayor outlines the good news:

Completed by the City in August 2010, the modifications have produced the following results:

Reduced collisions by 23 percent over a one-year period (compared to the previous five-year average)

Motorists traveling over the speed limit have declined by more than 60 percent

Top-end speeders (people traveling 10 or more miles over the speed limit) have fallen by 90 percent

The 85th percentile speed dropped from 40 mph and 44 mph westbound and eastbound to 33 mph and 33 Westbound and Eastbound. This is an 18 and a 24% reduction in speed.

Traffic volumes remain roughly the same with no evidence of traffic diversion.

This is the 27th successful road diet implemented by SDOT since 1974. And, with yet another roadway safety measure in place, the question must be asked: why isn’t SDOT implementing more of these safety measures?

We recently pointed out that 28 pedestrians have died in locations that may be eligible for a road diet. Since then, we’ve profiled three streets that may be ideal candidates for SDOT to consider next: 35th Ave SW in West Seattle, 23rd Ave in the Central District / Judkins Park, and S Jackson St in the International District. Let’s compare these three streets with Nickerson St to see whether these other streets may deserve the same successful safety treatment as Nickerson and 26 other Seattle streets.

First, we’ll start by looking at traffic volumes. SDOT looks at the total number of cars that use a roadway before implementing a road diet. Streets with average daily traffic counts above 25,000 are not good candidates, and presumably lower volumes make for better candidates, though road diets have minimal impact on overall volume. Using SDOT’s 2010 traffic volumes, here are the four streets compared, from lowest volume to highest:

Jackson St: ranges from 10,200-13,600
23rd Ave: 13,400
35th Ave SW: ranges from 16,100-22,700
Nickerson St: 22,300

Let’s look at another metric. While Walk Score is not an official criteria used by SDOT, it indicates the walkability of a location and is correlated with the number of pedestrians in an area. Streets with more pedestrians may be more deserving of measures that make the pedestrian environment safer and more pleasant. We took a sample Walk Score of 2-3 locations along each of these streets and are ranking them from highest (most walkable) to lowest (least walkable).

Jackson St: 90
23rd Ave: 86
Nickerson St: 81
35th Ave SW: 75

While the last two comparisons were interesting, the primary purpose of a lane rechannelization is to improve safety and the most dangerous streets should be looked at the hardest. We looked at this map of nationwide road fatalities, and counted the deaths that have occurred on each of these roadways from 2001-2009 to rank them in terms of urgency for safety improvements:

35th Ave SW: 4 roadway fatalities (including 2 dead peds)
23rd Ave: 4 roadway fatalities (2 dead peds)
Jackson St: 3 roadway fatalities (3 dead peds)
Nickerson St: 1 roadway fatality (0 dead peds)

Of our comparison group, Nickerson St has been the safest, is the second least walkable, and has the highest traffic volume. Still, a road diet was implemented and now has been shown to be a success. If a road diet can work there, then surely it can work on these other streets. How many more people will have to die before SDOT implements road diets on 35th Ave SW, 23rd Ave, Jackson St, and other locations where people are killed on Seattle’s roads?

2 Comments. Tags: Central District, fatality, Judkins Park, Nickerson, original reporting, road diet, SDOT, statistics, West Seattle. improvements and issues

Deadly Seattle Street: S Jackson St in the ID

February 28, 2012: published by Troy Heerwagen at 11:29 am - Closed

Walking in Seattle is profiling some of Seattle’s deadly roadways that could be candidates for a lane rechannelization, or road diet.

A road diet involves restriping the roadway, often to add a center turn lane and bike lanes. The effect is that vehicles slow down and the roadway is safer for all users. SDOT considers a roadway a good candidate for a road diet if people often speed on the roadway, if there is a history of collisions, and if a road diet wouldn’t significantly impact traffic volumes.

Jackson St at 5th Ave

Walking in Seattle nominates Jackson St in the International District as a good candidate for a road diet.

From 2001 to 2009 there have been three pedestrian fatalities along Jackson. At 5th and Jackson a 74-year-old woman was killed at 11:30 on a Friday in February. Later that year, an 81-year-old man was killed at Jackson & 10th on a Wednesday morning in June. In 2002, a 69-year-old woman was killed as well.

The roadway currently has four lanes of traffic, with parking lanes on each side, yet only carries 10,200-13,600 vehicles daily, far below SDOT’s maximum limit of 25,000 vehicles for implementing a road diet. While a road diet may not have prevented these fatalities, road diets have been proven to improve safety. Automobile speeds are lower and less variable, and bicycle lanes help make the roads safer for more users. By lowering vehicle speeds, pedestrians are safer as well – a pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling at 40mph is 85% likely to die, however if the vehicle is only going 30 mph, the pedestrian has a 50-60% chance of survival.

Jackson St, like 23rd Ave and 35th Ave SW, is a street that should be made safer and should be considered for a road diet.

[poll id=”14″]

Closed. Tags: fatality, International District, original reporting, road diet, SDOT. issues

Deadly Seattle Street: 23rd Ave

February 20, 2012: published by Troy Heerwagen at 6:19 am - Closed

23rd Ave, another good road diet candidate

Walking in Seattle is looking at deadly streets that may be good road diet candidates. The list included 28 different locations – just a fraction of the 90 locations throughout the city where a pedestrian had been killed between 2001 and 2009.

With four people having been killed in less than one mile of roadway between Yesler St and I-90, Walking in Seattle nominates 23rd Ave as a good road diet candidate. A road diet on 23rd Ave would improve road safety by re-striping the roadway to add a center turn lane and bike lanes, thus slowing vehicle traffic. Pedestrians are much more likely to be killed by a car traveling at 40 mph than by a car traveling at 30 mph.

At 10 pm on January 4, 2008, a 53-year-old female pedestrian was killed at 23rd & Lane in the Judkins Park neighborhood. On May 21, 2009, a 74-year-old man was struck and killed at 23rd & Main at 3 in the afternoon. In 2004, a 57-year-old motorcyclist died at 23rd and S Judkins St. Two years later, in 2006, a 26-year-old police officer was killed at 23rd and Yesler, when a speeding car ran a light.

This particularly deadly section of 23rd has four lanes of vehicle travel, with no sharrows or bicycle lanes and few marked crosswalks. There is also a curve and an incline that limit visibility. The daily traffic volume here is only 13,400 vehicles per day, well below SDOT’s maximum threshold of 25,000 for implementing a lane rechannelization. With the low visibility, low traffic volume, and high number of fatalities, this section of roadway would be an ideal candidate for a road diet that could prevent further death of all roadway users.

[poll id=”13″]

Closed. Tags: Central District, fatality, Judkins Park, poll, road diet, SDOT. issues

Deadly Seattle Street: 35th Ave SW in West Seattle

February 15, 2012: published by Troy Heerwagen at 7:27 pm - 1 Comment

35th Ave SW, a good road diet candidate

One of Seattle’s deadly streets that deserves more attention is 35th Ave SW in West Seattle. This street appeared twice in our list of locations of fatal pedestrian collisions that deserve further study. Walking in Seattle nominates this street for special consideration by SDOT as a road diet candidate.

A lane rechannelization, or road diet, involves re-striping the roadway, and in the case of 35th Ave, would add a center turn lane and bike lanes, and have one lane in each direction for motor vehicle traffic. The effect is that traffic flows more smoothly, thanks to the center turn lane, drivers go more slowly, and all users are able to use the roadway more safely.

The road carries 4 lanes of vehicle traffic in addition to a lane of parking on each side of the street. This makes the road width around 54 feet, which takes someone walking a normal speed more than 13 seconds to cross – a long time to be in the middle of a deadly roadway. In one area, marked crosswalks are half a mile apart.

An 85-year-old man was struck and killed on this street in 2007 at SW Othello St. A 39-year-old man was also killed on this street when he chased after his dog. This incident was covered by West Seattle Blog when it happened. While the speed of the vehicle who hit him isn’t available, road diets do reduce vehicle speeds. A pedestrian hit at 40 mph is about 85 percent likely to die; a pedestrian hit at 30 mph is about 40 percent likely to die.

Between 2001 and 2009 there were also two non-pedestrian fatalities on the roadway as a 27-year-old female cyclist was struck and killed at SW Graham St in 2006 and a 77-year-old driver was killed in a collision at SW Thistle St.

According to SDOT’s traffic volume data, the daily traffic volume on this road ranges from 16,100 to 22,700 vehicles per day. SDOT’s maximum threshold for implementing a road diet is 25,000 vehicles per day.

Right now the road has no bike lanes or sharrows and limited crosswalks. While it’s not certain that a road diet would have prevented these needless deaths, safety improvements are needed and could be provided by a road diet.

What do you think?
[poll id=”12″]

1 Comment. Tags: fatality, original reporting, road diet, SDOT, West Seattle. issues

Could road diets have saved the lives of 28 pedestrians?

February 11, 2012: published by Troy Heerwagen at 9:17 pm - 1 Comment

Walking in Seattle analyzed pedestrian fatality data^* from 2001 to 2009 and found that 28 of Seattle’s 90 fatal pedestrian collisions occurred on roads that may be eligible for a lane rechannelization.

A lane rechannelization, or road diet, involves re-striping the roadway, often to add bike lanes or reduce the number of lanes for motor vehicles, with the intent of improving safety by slowing vehicle speeds and shortening crosswalk distances.

Through usually controversial when proposed, 26 road diets have been successfully implemented in Seattle since the 1970s. Streets that have recently been rechannelized include Stone Way, Fauntleroy Way, Nickerson Street, and 125th Avenue. According to pro-pedestrian organization Feet First, “When [road diets are] done properly at appropriate locations, all users benefit.”

One benefit of a lane rechannelization is lowered speed. The road diet on Nickerson Street has dropped motor vehicle speeds from 40-44 mph to 34-37 mph. A pedestrian hit at 40 mph is about 85% likely to die; a pedestrian hit at 30 mph is about 40% likely to die.

Since the road diet on Stone Way, Seattle’s Department of Transportation reports that collisions on that street have dropped by 14%, injury collisions have dropped by 33%, and collisions with pedestrians have dropped a full 80%!

SDOT doesn’t have a specific road diet program, but “we have been using rechannelizations as part of our paving program or proactively as part of other work,” says spokesperson Rick Sheridan. A road diet is a relatively inexpensive and reversible way to compensate for shortcomings of the roadway design and “one tool to improve safety through traffic calming.”

SDOT considers a roadway eligible for a road diet if vehicles routinely exceed the speed limit, if there are a history of collisions on the roadway, and if the lanes can be reduced without significantly impacting the current travel volume. SDOT considers 25,000 vehicles per day as a maximum volume for a four-lane roadway to receive a lane rechannelization.

Walking in Seattle has applied the above criteria to the 104 pedestrian fatalities (a result of 90 collisions) that have occured from 2001-2009 to come up with a list of roads that could be eligible for changes to the roadway striping. We feel that 28 of these collision sites deserve further study by SDOT:

Date of Collision	Street Name	Neighborhood	2010 Traffic Volume^**	Walkscore at Fatal Collision
9/12/2001	5th Ave	Downtown	10800	100
9/23/2001	SW Alaska	West Seattle	N/A	86
6/7/2002	S Jackson St	International District	13600	83
7/31/2002	35th Ave NE	Wedgwood	15400	69
11/2/2002	35th Ave NE	Wedgwood	15400	77
1/5/2003	S Jackson St	International District	13600	86
6/16/2003	5th Ave	Belltown	10800	98
7/3/2003	NE 130th St	Haller Lake	19900	37
12/21/2003	Rainier Ave S	Rainier Beach	18000	68
10/1/2004	15th Ave NE	University District	8900	97
1/5/2005	Swift Way	Beacon Hill	7400	71
11/10/2005	E Cherry St	Central District	8300	86
12/14/2005	Alaskan Way	Downtown	12600	82
2/8/2006	Rainier Ave S	Brighton	23900	51
11/2/2006	4th Ave	Downtown	18600	98
11/14/2006	SW Admiral Wy	Admiral	N/A	80
4/21/2007	24th Ave E	Montlake	20000	62
10/27/2007	35th Ave SW	High Point	20200	65
11/20/2007	16th Ave SW	98146	5100	71
12/19/2007	Pinehurst Wy NE	Northgate	10900	86
1/4/2008	23rd Ave S	Atlantic	13400	85
3/30/2008	1st Ave S	Pioneer Square	24700	83
6/25/2008	Des Moines Memorial	98108	N/A	52
8/10/2008	35th Ave SW	North Delridge	22700	48
8/23/2008	E Madison St	First Hill	21900	98
9/22/2008	California Ave SW	West Seattle	12600	85
6/17/2009	S Jackson St	International District	13600	83
11/11/2009	NE 50th St	University District	21800	98

Many of these roads have four lanes of vehicle traffic and could have a center turn lane added, similar to other road diets. Some of these locations only have two lanes of traffic, like California Ave and Adrmiral Way, however the current lanes are wide and encourage higher speeds. By adding bike lanes and striping the parking lane, the main road space would be constrained and drivers would slow down.

While the city has been falsely accused of waging a “war on cars” through implementation of road diets, these statistics suggest that the city’s efforts have not been aggressive enough at reducing roadway fatalities.

1 Comment. Tags: fatality, original reporting, road diet, SDOT, statistics. issues

1/3 of Seattle’s pedestrian deaths occur on State and Federal roads

December 5, 2011: published by Troy Heerwagen at 7:01 am - 6 Comments

Walking in Seattle has analyzed pedestrian fatality information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) for the years 2001-2009.

Of the 104 pedestrians that were killed in Seattle during that period, 31 were killed on state or federal highways. While these roadways only cover a small portion of the city, nearly one third of Seattle’s pedestrian fatalities occured there.

By far the deadliest roadway in the city is I-5, with 17 fatalities during the studied period. While most people in their right mind would not consider trying to walk along or across I-5, the freeway cuts a deep path through the city and offers pedestrians no way across for long stretches.

SR-99 / Aurora is the worst state highway in the city, with 7 pedestrian deaths to its name. Other deadly roadways include SR-519 and Lake City Way / SR-522.

While the city of Seattle is responsible for these state highways, funding is not available to re-build these streets as complete streets.

The high rate of fatalities on these roadways is indicative of a few things. While these roads don’t cover a lot of area in the city, they do carry a lot of vehicles, increasing the chances of driver-pedestrian encounters. These highways are also the city’s longest, so they are statistically more likely to show up in a list. More importantly, though, these roadways show a disregard for active transportation. Highways and walkers don’t mix well, as these statistics remind us.

Click here for a searchable map of pedestrian fatalities from Transportation for America.

6 Comments. Tags: fatality, highway, statistics. issues

KPLU wonders why Seattleites don’t jaywalk

November 27, 2011: published by Troy Heerwagen at 4:49 pm - 1 Comment

KPLU looks at Seattle’s notorious aversion to jaywalking.

In 1978 it was one the first things Patrick Fitzsimons notice when he came to interview for the police chief job. Seattle Police officer John Abraham says the story has become stuff of legend.

“Chief Patrick Fitzsimons and his wife were in a hotel in Belltown and Fitzsimons is looking out the window and he calls his wife over, ‘Ogla you gotta see this! It’s pouring rain. It’s Sunday morning, and they are waiting for the light to cross. We are staying here.’”

KPLU looks at why that is the case and suggests that the Seattle Police have a part in maintaining the non-jaywalking culture here.

As long as it’s the law, police officer Abraham says citing jaywalkers will continue to be a top priority.

“Jaywalking can cost your life; smoking marijuana can just give you a buzz. So, I’ll be after a jaywalker rather than someone with a joint. Unless that person starts to jaywalk, then they’ll really be in trouble.”

KPLU links to the current petition to make jaywalking legal unless it impedes motor vehicle traffic and also provides some advice:

Jaywalk in the middle of a block. It’s safer because you have a clear view and there are no cars nearby making turns into the intersection.

If you get caught, don’t cop an attitude with the police officer and don’t give them any excuses such as being late or “just grabbing a coffee”. They’ve heard it all. Apologize and move on.

You can take your ticket to the city’s magistrate office, where they will probably offer to cut the fine in half.

Don’t bother trying to take it to trial. You will likely lose and it will be a big waste of time and resources for all parties involved.

The new crosswalks with the count-down timers can be confusing. You are technically jaywalking if you enter the intersection after the walk signal is gone and the numbers start ticking down.

1 Comment. Tags: culture, jaywalking, legal. issues

Change Jaywalking Laws in Seattle

November 12, 2011: published by Troy Heerwagen at 11:05 pm - 13 Comments

While Seattle has lost out on $44 million of funding for sidewalks, transit improvements, bike lanes, and pothole repairs that Proposition 1 would have brought, there is still an opportunity to make a difference for pedestrians.

A petition on Change.org is directed towards the city and City Council to Make jaywalking legal unless it obstructs vehicular movement.

Currently, jaywalking in Seattle is a more severe offense than smoking marijuana or public nudity. Only 1 of 4 city council members who participated in our Q&A clearly denied ever jaywalking, however.

Loosening jaywalking laws is necessary, since SPD aggressively targets pedestrians. Last year, SPD issued 1570 tickets to pedestrians, yet less than 200 to drivers for failing to yield the right of way (the largest cause of pedestrian collisions in the city). Auditors have also found that jaywalking citations often escalate to confrontations or violence.

Changing jaywalking laws here would support the city’s goal to make walking one of the easiest ways to get around, similar to pedestrian-friendly nations Sweden and Norway that also have lenient jaywalking policies.

Car manufacturers helped to criminalize jaywalking in the 1920s, and before automobiles, the rule was that “[A]ll persons have an equal right in the highway, and that in exercising the right each shall take due care not to injure other users of the way.”

Changing the law is a low-cost way to improve pedestrian mobility in the city. Click here for the petition.

13 Comments. Tags: jaywalking, petition. issues