It’s time again to select the worst pedestrian intersection in the city.
After a two-year hiatus, you will have the opportunity to choose the worst intersection in the city. In 2011, voters chose Aurora and its interrupted cross-streets in South Lake Union as the worst. A year later and a quarter-mile away, 5th & Denny (also known as the 5th Avenue onramp) took top honors.
To kick things off, we’ve already nominated Montlake and SR-520:
This has got to be the worst pedestrian intersection in Seattle @ Montlake & 520 pic.twitter.com/7R6Yve8cA3
— Walking in Seattle (@WalkingSeattle) April 17, 2015
But is it the worst? Or is there somewhere else you have in mind? Feel free to nominate more than one. The top 10 most-frequently nominated intersections will be selected to advance to the voting round. Submit your worst intersection here or comment in support of others’ nominees. Passion is a tie-breaker so tell us how you really feel!
Accepting nominations through Sunday, May 3
We have to go with the corner of 42nd and Roosevelt Way NE. Although the temporary Protected Bike Lane is an improvement over the previous right-hand bike lane, it still presents a daily danger. Drivers turning right onto 42nd are hitting people almost weekly, and near-right-hooks are becoming a daily occurrence. The final version of the street needs to take this into account. Controlled turns (as on 2nd Ave downtown) would be an ideal solution.
Oops, of course it’s *pedestrian intersection*.
We will second Montlake/520, with an honorable mention for Montlake & Lynn. There are actually quite a few desirable ped crossings which are in business areas with currently only one light.
For this year, the sidewalk closures around Montlake/520 certainly weigh heavily. Similarly, sidewalk/crosswalk closures at Dexter/Mercer have been a pain to deal with, often forcing pedestrians to cross over Mercer and/or Dexter multiple times (with long waits) to continue to a destination on the same side of the street.
But my nomination goes to a classic bad intersection: Rainier/I-90. On both sides of Rainier the interaction with traffic entering from I-90 is OK but the interaction with traffic exiting from Rainier is right in the middle of an onramp whose design encourages drivers to accelerate! It’s also somewhat timely because the Rainier safety project doesn’t extend quite far enough north to cover it.
Rainier & I-90! I second!!
Something should be done
Terry Avenue and Denny Way. Impossible to cross Denny here, and getting more and more dangerous to even cross Terry. With a 40 story tower about to be constructed here, this one’s only going to get worse.
https://twitter.com/typewriteralley/status/585599492382191618
24th/Madison/John!
My nomination would be NE 40th St and 7th Ave NE come together, on the west side of the U-District and a block east of the Ship Canal Bridge.
This is a five-way intersection involving four (4!) different branches of NE 40th St (upper and lower forks that split, come together, split, and come together at various points), the Burke-Gilman Trail, and a poorly-thought-out cycle track that just dumps westbound cyclists into the intersection going the wrong way, with no visibility at all from the upper fork of 40th. The cycle track isn’t marked well so often drivers will continue on it east, forcing cyclists to take evasive action.
15th Ave NW and Leary Ave NW. The Ballard Bridge makes visibility awful, and turning cars rarely look out for pedestrians. Moreover, the push-button activated walk signals don’t last long enough to get one all the way across 15th Ave NW. With bus stops for east/west and north/south lines on nearly every corner, it’s a recipe for encouraging peds to cross against the light. This intersection is the worst!