Tag Archive for 'Capitol Hill'

City says no light signal for ped collision hotspot

Capitol Hill Seattle reports on a dangerous intersection for pedestrians. An elderly man was recently hit at Pine & Boylston, as one of a few pedestrians who have been hit at that intersection over the past couple years.

SDOT studied the intersection but has indicated that a traffic signal isn’t the best solution. Spokesperson Rick Sherdian says, “Although this location did not meet the criteria for a signal, SDOT will study the types and causes of the collisions that have occurred at this location and determine what other traffic devices or methods could improve safety here.”

Sheridan explains the process that SDOT will go through in evaluating this intersection.

SDOT’s evaluation will review sight lines, markings, signs, pavement condition, time-of-day patterns, day-of-week patterns, bus zone placement, traffic volumes, distance to traffic signals and field observations. We will also study collision reports for any patterns of contributing pedestrian or motorist behavior. Given our significant workload, SDOT aims to complete this by year’s end.

That’s a long time to wait for a solution to be identified, but hopefully SDOT can address this problem before someone else is injured.

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Walk & Talk in Capitol Hill with Sally Clark

Sally Clark (recently interviewed by Walking in Seattle) will be leading a walk through Capitol Hill as part of Feet First‘s quarterly Walk & Talk series. The walk will stop at three places in the neighborhood to highlight recent changes that have made the area more walkable. The livability enhancements featured include green space, multi-modal investments, and mixed use and compact development.

The walk starts at 5:30 on Tuesday, March 24 at the Odd Fellows Building (entry to the right of the Odd Fellows Cafe) at 1525 10th Avenue. Tickets can be purchased online for $7 for members and $10 for non-members online – the cost is higher if purchased the day of the walk.

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A reception will follow at the Baltic Room at 1207 Pine St.

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Help make 12th Ave E safer

From Capitol Hill Seattle:

Walking on 12th Avenue East between E Madison and E Prospect could get easier and safer soon. At least that is the hope of the Capitol Hill Community Council, which has been awarded a $17,000 from the Department of Neighborhoods for the 12th Avenue East Transportation Safety Initiative. But it’s a matching grant, so people will need to volunteer their time and effort to match the cash.

People interested in helping are urged to attend the CHCC’s meeting at 7 PM April 21 in the Cal Anderson Park Shelter House. If you can’t make the meeting, email the council at chcc.officers@gmail.com.

Click here for more info from Capitol Hill Seattle

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10 year sentence for driver who struck and killed pedestrian

From the Times:

A 34-year-old sex offender with a lengthy rap sheet was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison Friday for running over and killing a 91-year-old Capitol Hill woman last year.

Shipp’s blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.16 percent, twice the legal limit, after the crash, according to police. Shipp, police said, denied being drunk, saying he had taken a 500-milligram Vicodin pill several hours earlier.

[Judge] Yu told Shipp his two-page criminal history persuaded her to hand down a harsh sentence. The judge questioned whether Shipp ever had learned a lesson from time he previously spent behind bars.

It’s unlikely the sentence would have been nearly as severe if the negligent driver were not a repeat offender. Currently, a vulnerable users bill is being considered in committees in the state congress, which would increase penalties for vehicular negligence. Seattle Bike Blog has a good write-up of the status of HB 1339 and SB 5326.

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Two people hit on Capitol Hill

Capitol Hill Seattle reports that two pedestrians were hit yesterday.


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One person was taken to Harborview with serious head injuries. The condition of the second person is not known at this time.

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Putting peds on Pike/Pine

A couple months ago Sally Clark brought up the idea of closing Pike and Pine streets to vehicle traffic in the evenings to make for a more exciting and pedestrian-oriented nightlife environment.

There’s been some discussion of this at Capitol Hill Seattle. Sounds good for nightlife, possibly not so good for residents who live nearby, and maybe good for pedestrians, or maybe not.

Dan Bertolet says that removing cars from Pike St isn’t worth it:

One of the likely targets is Pike Street between Broadway and 12th, but the thing is that strip works just fine with cars in it. The striped crosswalks are fairly well respected by drivers. Because there is so much activity around the street, car speeds tend to be relatively slow. Cars and pedestrians and bikes all coexist to create a healthy urban street energy.

If the cars were removed, however, the space would be much too big, and all that energy would lose its punch because it would become too unfocused and diffuse. Pike is a wide street—about 80 feet from building face to building face—and that’s a formidable swath of empty pavement (check out the photo at the top).

I’m not sure if this idea will go anywhere, or if it should. The sidewalks are a little narrow along Pike, so having a whole street to walk in seems like it would be nice. And there’s not really a need to keep the road open for vehicular flow. There are some logistical issues that would need to be figured out, such as paying for additional clean-up. It does seem like it would be good for pedestrians, though, even if it’s not the most ideal pedestrian mall. The comments to the linked articles above have some more thoughts – most of them seem to be in opposition to this idea.

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New Crosswalk near Capitol Hill Light Rail station

Capitol Hill Seattle reports on a new crosswalk near the light rail station under construction.


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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.

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Pedestrian struck on Capitol Hill

Capitol Hill Seattle reports:

A man crossing 12th Ave was struck by a white pick-up truck traveling south on the arterial route late Sunday night. The driver of the pick-up sat on his tailgate and waited as police cordoned off the street for an investigation of the incident after the ambulance and emergency vehicles had left the scene. In front of his truck, articles of clothing and blood could be seen on the pavement. People with cars parked inside the police tape waited for permission to either move their cars or collect their possessions and walk home.


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We’ve confirmed the details of last night’s incident with SPD and have better news than expected to share. SPD tells us the 29-year-old man who was struck was transported from the scene with serious head injuries but that his condition was upgraded and that the injuries are not considered life-threatening.

The department’s preliminary investigation indicates the 29-year-old was crossing 12th Ave mid-block and not in a crosswalk when he was struck by the pick-up truck. The truck’s driver was interviewed at the scene but it was determined that he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

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Walking with Crutches on Capitol Hill

I’ve been fortunate never to have needed to use crutches, but it sounds like if I were living on Capitol Hill, it wouldn’t be too big of a problem, according to a local resident who broke his ankle.

I’ve also found another reason to love my dense compact neighborhood of Capitol Hill in Seattle. It turns out that my part of the world, one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the Northwest, is pretty easy to get around on crutches. While my neighborhood is considered a “walker’s paradise” by Walk Score’s measure, it is also conducive to getting around in other ways, including on crutches. Why? It’s pretty simple; everything in my neighborhood is close by.

Just another perk of living in a walkable area, though hopefully one I can just be aware of without having to experience it.

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Pedestrian hit near Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill

Capitol Hill Seattle reports on a pedestrian being hit on Pine Street at 10th Ave yesterday evening.


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The pedestrian was taken to Harborview but her injuries are not life threatening.

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