Walking in Seattle is going to identify the worst intersection in Seattle, and you’re invited to submit nominations. Once nominations have been received, all readers will be invited to vote for the worst.
The worst intersection could be the most dangerous, or perhaps one with limited pedestrian crossings, poor signaling, or no curbs. Intersections like 23rd & Yesler or 12th & Madison are two intersections that might be worth nominating. Whatever qualifies as your “worst,” suggest it in the comments. The most nominated intersections and intersections with the most persuasive nominations will make it to the voting round.
Update: Time to vote!
7th Ave NE and NE 45th. The bizarre center-of-the-intersection crosswalk, the fact you have to wait three whole signal changes to cross catty-corner (which nobody does), the fact that it’s the only “safe” crossing of 45th for several blocks headed east (so you end up with mass jaywalking). Just awful.
E Roy St and Belmont Ave E. It’s configured as if Belmont southbound and Roy eastbound are a continuous road with no stop or yield, leaving pedestrians wondering whether oncoming traffic intends to turn or not. This is one of the only intersections on Capitol Hill I actively avoid.
Pine and Boren deserves mention, as well. Not for safety (sightlines are good and drivers are well behaved), but for comfort. This is a very busy intersection for pedestrian commute traffic, and is very loud thanks to I-5 below. I keep hoping those overpasses are near their end-of-life so they can be replaced with something that buffers the noise, ideally with some vegetation.
I’d be remiss to not offer Aurora and Republican, Thomas, Harrison, or John. These intersections all suck for not existing, pedestrian-speaking. We have enough geographic barriers to movement in this town, we don’t need to create our own with concrete.
Eastlake NE and Fuhrman E – ear-crushing noise off I5, car drivers rushing to turn off or onto the University Bridge, which often means navigating around a “oh hey a pedestrian” car stopped across the pedestrian walkway, which pushes you out into the Bicycle Lane, who in turn have their own troubles with cars failing to yield.
I’ll throw out Mercer & Fairview, which is basically a 8-lanes of freeway onramp / offramp. Not only can’t you cross Mercer at all on the east side of Fairview, but if you’re on the north side of Mercer, there are no pedestrian signals to cross any street – you’ll have to walk a block back north to cross Fairview at Valley.
I’m nominating Latona Ave NE and NE Pacific Street because of the need to dodge cars, large trucks AND bikes at this intersection. The Burke Gilman trail merges with the sidewalk at this intersection so you have large numbers of bikes, many moving fast, that must be avoided by pedestrians. The noise from the I-5 bridge makes any attempt to warn “on your left” impossible to hear. Large trucks entering and leaving Dunn Lumber have a steep hill that they must stop on before pulling across the Burke Gilman trail/sidewalk and turning onto Pacific. Vehicles on Pacific turning south on Latona must not only do the usual checks but also look over their shoulder for fast moving bikes on the Burke Gilman. A mess for all!
Oh, I forgot another. Probably not as bad as most of these, but the intersection at Convention Place Station – Howell & 9th – has always annoyed me because I don’t like being stuck on the little island where 9th Ave splits.
1)Westlake/Valley/Broad. It is particularly dangerous if you are trying to cross Westlake on the north side of the intersection. It is a soft right turn for people traveling east on Valley and turning onto Westlake, so most don’t slow down at all or bother to consider there might be pedestrians who have the right of way. Also, the cross walk a block up Westlake is mostly useless, as no one ever stops for it.
2)Where Fairview turns off of Eastlake and the sidewalk vanishes into a parking lot. The parking lot itself is barely distinguishable from the road when it isn’t filled with cars.
3)The Bridge Way exit off of Aurora has the most dangerous sidewalk in the city. I believe many people would get hit there were people actually using it. It is a soft turn off of Aurora, so drivers come flying around at 50+ mph. Drivers can’t see if anyone is on the crosswalk and pedestrians can’t see if anyone’s coming toward it. To make matters worse, there’s a two foot drop from the sidewalk to the street, so if you saw a car was coming at the last minute, it wouldn’t be easy to get back to safety. When I’ve walked up Aurora this way, I’ve gone way out of my way to 38th to get back onto Aurora, rather than put my life on the line trying the direct path.
Luckily they’re dealing with the Fairview & Eastlake intersection, putting in an actual sidewalk and making Fairview Ave E intersect with Fairview Ave N at a right angle.