Monthly Archive for November, 2010

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Neighborhood improvements by SDOT

It’s always exciting to see the before and after photos that SDOT shares from neighborhood pedestrian improvements. Click for photos and more details on improvements at Ravenna Ave NE and Lake City Way NE as well as Lakeview Blvd and Harvard Ave E.

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Beacon BIKES Event – Beacon Hill

Walk & Bike Beacon Hill

Neighborhood Transportation Summit
Beacon BIKES is hosting a neighborhood meeting to discuss exciting ways to improve safety and mobility while walking and biking on Beacon Hill! The event will be held this Saturday, November 20th, from 10am to noon at Beacon Hill International School.  Numerous activities are planned, including:

• Help design safe walking and biking routes for kids, seniors, and families

• See proposed routes and destinations

• Meet the planners from ALTA Design, Steve Durrant, RLA and Kim Voros.

• Bring your kids and learn about bike safety for children

When: Saturday, November 20th, 10am to noon

Where: Beacon Hill International School, 2025 14th Avenue South, Seattle

Refreshments will be served.  All ages are welcome and everyone’s invited, but if you can’t make it please look for Beacon Bikes on Facebook.

For more information, please contact Frederica Merrell, frmerrel@seattleschools.org.

Organized by Beacon Bikes and Alta Planning
with support from Seattle Department of Neighborhoods,
Beacon Hill International School, Bike Works and other Donors

WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF BEACON BIKES? To design, plan and steward the creation of a family bike and pedestrian circulation system for Beacon Hill based on the work of innovative Portland design firm Alta.  We aim to bring our community closer together by making our streets safer and encouraging people to get out of their cars and enjoy the neighborhood on foot and by bicycle.

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Neighborhood pedestrian malls

A few months ago, city councilmember Sally Clark suggested opening up Pike and Pine Streets to people on foot. It doesn’t sound like that was the best location to have people filling the streets, so she is now looking at other neighborhoods for a temporary pedestrian mall.

University Avenue, “The Ave” is busy at night, but many shops close early. What if The Ave was from time-to-time closed to traffic to become a pedestrian mall? It is something Seattle City Council Member Sally Clark thinks is worth a try.

She is not talking about streets fair or markets, just a chance for people to stroll the street and window shop and hopefully spend some money.

Of course with any new idea there are people who say that it won’t work. But this isn’t a totally new idea, the Summer Streets events are similar and have been very successful at getting people to come out and enjoy their streets, rather than just driving on them.

The Ave seems like the perfect street to be made car-free as it’s relatively narrow with many street-facing businesses. Traffic can be easily reroute to any parallel street and buses routes can default to the same alternate routes that are in place during the U District Street Fair.

Broadway Ave seems like another good candidate, though it is wider and carries more cars. Same with 45th St in Wallingford. Where else in the city could be a good place for a pedestrian mall?

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Crosswalk closed at Westlake and Mercer

Update: SDOT explains reasons for closure

As part of the Mercer Corridor Project, the east crosswalk at Westlake Ave is closed.

Closed sidewalk at Mercer and Westlake

While there is not currently any construction in this area, a few weeks ago, the crosswalk signals were covered and large “CROSSWALK CLOSED” signs were placed on each side of Mercer.

SDOT has not returned an email requesting comment on the closure.

Vehicle traffic has been rerouted as part of the construction project and now a high volume of traffic is turning left onto Mercer from southbound Westlake.

It’s not clear exactly why the crosswalk is closed or how long it will be in place.

Perhaps the crosswalk was closed to make it easier for vehicles to turn, as now there is more vehicular traffic passing through the intersection.

This closure probably has good intentions, however they are not apparent to people in the area. Safety is a key consideration for any traffic flow change, however closing this crosswalk may in fact be making the intersection more dangerous.

As with most sidewalk and crosswalk closures, a significant number of people are ignoring SDOT’s attempt to close the crosswalk and are crossing when traffic has the green light. It does not appear that SDOT has a plan to address the danger created for these pedestrians who choose to cross without a crosswalk signal.

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Crosswalk finished on Phinney Ridge

PhinneyWood reports that the crosswalk at NW 73rd St and 8th Ave NW has new curb ramps and has been striped. The intersection has bus stops on both sides, so this new crosswalk should make crossing the street safer.

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Crossing improvements planned near Beacon Hill Station

A few months ago, Beacon Hill Blog drew attention to the unsafe conditions at the intersection of Beacon Ave S and Lander St. Since then, they have Beacon BIKES has met with SDOT to design a new crossing to allow pedestrians to cross more safely.

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Dangers of Aurora, part 2: Safety Project will benefit pedestrians

Aurora Traffic Safety ProjectAs we saw in part 1, Aurora is a dangerous highway, especially for pedestrians. The Aurora Traffic Safety Project is making Aurora safer for all users through a three-pronged approach of engineering, enforcement, and education.

There is only $250,000 available for engineering improvements along Aurora, so “getting word out is a critical piece” of the plan according to project manager Jim Curtin. Because many pedestrian collisions are caused by inattentive drivers who fail to yield the right of way, the tag line of the project is “Expect the Unexpected.” “We want people to be ready for anything at any time,” says Curtin.

New billboards on the corridor remind people to slow down and watch for pedestrians. Also, five radar speed signs will remind drivers how fast they are going. This method can lower speeds in these targeted areas by 3-5 miles per hour according to studies referenced by SDOT.

STOP for Pedestrians billboard design

Billboard to remind drivers to be careful

There are also pedestrian safety patrols on Aurora to make sure that drivers properly yield to pedestrians. Drivers who don’t yield to pedestrians will get a ticket and a brochure to remind them to drive safely around people on foot.

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission has supplied seventy-five thousand dollars for additional police work during the duration of the two-year project. Citations issued on Aurora are up 110%, and 10,000 citations have been written since the project launched in June of last year.

Meanwhile, SDOT is doing what it can to address the road design. “If we had funding in place, we would like to re-engineer the roadway and put changes in place to slow people down,” says Curtin. The majority of pedestrian collisions occur in intersections and the existing signals are already “the highest form of traffic control that we can provide.” Still, SDOT has repainted crosswalks at all signals at a cost of $1,500 per crosswalk, and added new crosswalks at 115th and 130th Streets.

But Curtin says there’s more than just new paint. “When the Traffic Safety Project is complete in June of 2011, we will have installed more than 30 new curb ramps along Aurora (fourteen of which are already complete). In addition, we have applied for a grant to install a new traffic signal at N 95th and Aurora. This is the mid-point of a ten block stretch that lacks crosswalks despite busy transit stops on the east and west sides of the street.” Just a few weeks ago a pedestrian was struck at 95th St, so this improvement can’t come soon enough.

SDOT has applied for an additional grant to install curb ramps at N 135th St, another site of serious accidents. Other improvements that have already been made include reclaiming part of 84th Street to create a bus stop plaza and adding a left turn signal to traffic lights at 80th St.

The project team will continue to evaluate conditions along Aurora, looking deeper at collision patterns as well as lighting along the corridor.

SDOT is still evaluating how to reduce pedestrian collisions near Green Lake. There were some good ideas shared on this blog last time someone was hit there. According to Curtin:

We are currently leaning toward an option similar to one of your reader suggestions. In this option, we would install signage or paint directly onto the jersey barrier with the “no pedestrian crossing” symbol (the ped symbol with a red circle with a line through it). Beneath the symbol we would paint “crosswalk X blocks” with an arrow pointing in the direction of the nearest crosswalk. We would install these markings in areas where we see this behavior most often. We’ve identified several areas thus far including: the Green Lake area, near the N 50th St underpass, near the N 46th St underpass, near the N 41st St overpass, near the N 38th St underpass/north end of the Aurora Bridge, near the south end of the Aurora Bridge, near the Galer St overpass, near the Broad St underpass, and near Denny Way. Believe it or not, most of the ped collisions on the south end of the corridor happen within one to two blocks of a safe crossing. Again, there is no guarantee that pedestrians will take time to read the message but we feel that this is a viable option.

While Aurora will still be a dangerous roadway without re-engineering, the project is already seeing success. Curtin says, “We’ve seen a 30% reduction in collisions and want to sustain that for the next couple years and beyond.”

More information about the project can be found at the project website, or from this interview with SDOT project manager Jim Curtin on Aurora Seattle.

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Livable Streets workshop

Feet First will be sharing the results of their walking audit near UW along with Seattle Children’s.

Feet First is coordinating a walking audit of the area on Saturday, Nov. 6th and will be sharing results of the audit at the workshop. Come and share your thoughts about how to make the area more walkable. To join the walking audit email info@feetfirst.info or call 206-652-2310.

Attend the Livable Streets workshop and help identify potential projects including:

  • Bike and Pedestrian improvements, like better access to the Burke Gilman Trail and other ways to improve local streets so people of all ages and abilities feel safe biking and walking;
  • Intelligent Transportation Systems using technology to give drivers more information; and
  • Corridor improvements increasing safety for all users.

People of all ages are invited to participate. The workshop will have lots of kid-friendly activities, including:

  • Free bike helmets with complimentary fitting
  • Bicycle safety and fun workshop – Kids, bring your bike!
  • Learn how to be a safe and smart pedestrian

Saturday, November 13, 2010
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Gould Hall, University of Washington
3949 15th Ave NE
224 Gould Hall
Seattle, WA 98195-5726

Click here for a map and directions

RSVP: LivableStreets@seattlechildrens.org

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Madrona sidewalk maintenance in progress

Central District News reports that Liz Ellis of SDOT is planning sidewalk improvements in the Madrona area.

Ellis identified three specific arterials in Madrona as the most in need of repair – E. Union Street from MLK to 34th Avenue, E. Cherry Street from MLK to 34th Avenue and 34th Avenue between E. Cherry and E. Pike.
She’s meeting with a crew chief to discuss plans for repairs on E. Union St. as early as this month or in the first few weeks of November, to take advantage of good weather. That street was prioritized because it’s nearest to Madrona K-8 and sees a lot of foot traffic, both from school and from the bus stops. The repairs would include taking up lifted cracks, root pruning and putting in level asphalt patches.

Update: The sidewalk restoration has begun

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Pedestrian hit by train

A train hit a pedestrian near the waterfront near midnight last night. A train was blocking the intersection of Elliott Ave Alaskan Way and Clay St and a 34-year-old man was struck by another train after crossing underneath the first.

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