Maple Leaf will be receiving three new crosswalks this year. Two crosswalks had already been approved by SDOT and another one was recently approved after additional study.
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Tag Archive for 'crosswalk'
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Capitol Hill Seattle reports on a new crosswalk near the light rail station under construction.
Here is a release on the crosswalk from Sound Transit, who is managing the construction of this light rail station:
Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has installed the crosswalk at 10th Avenue E. and E. John Street on Capitol Hill. This crosswalk will help pedestrian traffic cross the busy intersection at 10th Avenue E. and E. John Street. A portion of Denny Way has been closed until 2016 to accommodate the construction of the Capitol Hill Light Rail Station.
In case you were ever wondering, pushing the crosswalk button multiple times doesn’t get you across the street any faster than doing it once. But, if it makes you feel better to push it multiple times, it doesn’t hurt.
And, if you only push it once, there’s always a chance that you don’t push it all the way and you’ll be stuck there until the next light cycle. I always push it a couple times to make sure I don’t get stuck there for longer than I need to be.
There are some interesting comments in this post from the PI’s Seattle 911 blog, such as this from yaddayadda:
I know of at least one mechanical button that doesn’t always respond to the first tap, so I alway press them twice. I’ve also heard from an employee at sdot that there are some buttons that are completely inoperable, that the walk signal comes on every cycle, but the buttons were placed there to placate those who think they have to hit a button in order to get the walk light.
Personally, I’d rather not have buttons and have the pedestrian light come on every signal, especially in very urban areas of the city. Sometimes the buttons aren’t clear to see, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of consistency from intersection to intersection when a pedestrian signal comes on automatically isn’t clear. Several times I’ve seen people ignore the button because they expect the light to change automatically.
The Seattle PI looks into why Seattle doesn’t have many all-way-walk signals. We currently have an all-way-walk at 1st and Pike downtown and at the Alaska Junction in West Seattle. You may be more familiar with these if you’ve visited Denver or parts of San Francisco. An all-way-walk signal allows pedestrians to cross streets in all directions with no vehicle traffic. However, the drawback is that pedestrians have to wait through two light cycles, one for each direction of vehicle traffic. SDOT says this longer total light cycle would slow down vehicles and pedestrians:
“In 2007, SDOT conducted a comprehensive ‘All-Way-Walk’ (AWW) analysis at more than 70 signals in the downtown retail core area. The study results showed that the vast majority of intersections would actually experience a significant increase in delay for motorists and pedestrians at AWW intersections and also, in turn, other intersections along the corridors. The delay to buses would also be significantly greater,” he says.
I really liked the all-way-walk signals in San Francisco, but can see the definite drawback of having to wait longer to cross. It seems something like this would work best where pedestrian traffic is high and vehicle traffic is low enough to have a quicker signal cycle. Is there anywhere else in Seattle where an all-way-walk would make sense? Maybe somewhere on Capitol Hill? Or what about Pioneer Square?
Central District News reports that pedestrian flags are now available at crosswalks along Jackson St.
The Jackson Street Business Corridor (JSBC) has placed pedestrian safety flags at several crosswalks along South Jackson Street in the Central Area neighborhood. It is intended for these bright colored orange flags to increase pedestrian visibility, day or night. The JSBC, a group of Jackson Street business owners, encourages a pedestrian friendly business district.
These flags seem to be becoming more common. There are some streets that are more auto-oriented where crosswalks and pedestrians can be more easily missed. Hopefully these flags will help pedestrians to feel safer along this road.
The Rainier Valley Post (via Publicola) reports that SDOT is doing some construction along Rainier Ave. Most of these improvements are transit-oriented, to the benefit of the riders of the popular bus route 7.
Pedestrians will benefit, too, with new pedestrian signals across Rainier at 39th Ave S and at S Fronteac St. Some crosswalks will be repainted and curb ramps will be added in several places along the street.
The project is expected to continue through the end of the year.
My Ballard reports on crosswalk improvements on Leary Ave NW.
View Leary Ave NW between Market St & 20th Ave in a larger map
Changes include ladder style crosswalk markings in the street, overhead flood lighting in the crosswalk zone, a vehicle stop line for southbound traffic, new signage, the removal of one tree on the west side of the street, new light poles and new parking restrictions on the east and west side of the street for a distance of 35 feet in advance of the crosswalk. The work will take about seven days and will completed at some point before Labor Day.
There will also be curb bulbs added as part of this project. SDOT will continue evaluate additional improvement options, though funding for that is not currently available.
