The Your Voice Your Choice (YVYC) program collects ideas for small-scale park and street improvement projects from Seattle residents and then asks people to vote on which ones should be implemented. In 2018, $3 million has been allocated for chosen projects.
Ideas were collected in January and the ones identified by community members as top priorities during a project development phase are now going through a feasibility review, scoping, and design by the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and Seattle Parks & Recreation (SPR).
In the Ravenna-Bryant neighborhood, four project ideas are currently under review. All have to do with creating a safer environment for people either by reducing the number of people driving too fast or by installing painted crosswalks.
1. 20th Ave NE between 65th and Lake City Way: Speed bumps to slow traffic. “Cars drive over the speed limit and there is no check of their speed or stops between the traffic lights to calm traffic. This street is lined with homes and is in constant use by pedestrians and bicyclists. Something needs to calm traffic from just racing through from north to south and vice versa as pedestrians/bicyclists try to use (cross) the street. All community members who use NE 20th Ave [would benefit]. Drivers will be more safe and pedestrians/cyclists will be more safe.”
2. 20th Ave NE from NE 65th to Lake City Way: Crossing improvements at 20th Ave NE & NE 68th, NE 70th and/or NE 82nd. “To improve traffic conditions on 20th Ave NE: lower speed limit to 25; paint crosswalks; add stop signs at NE 70th & maybe NE 82nd; add radar speed sign; possibly add flashing ped lights. Vehicle speeds are dangerously high; peds are at risk, esp children near Community Center – also people entering parked vehicles on drivers’ side. All residents on 20th NE (200 households); children accessing Ravenna Eckstein Community Center & Playground; parishioners at Reformed Presbyterian Church” would benefit.
3. Intersection of 21st Ave NE & NE 77th St: Traffic circle to prevent drivers from speeding. “This is a very dangerous intersection with the hill.” It is a “very dangerous uncontrolled intersection with commuters speeding through to get to 75th. Multiple car accidents there over the years. Residents, children in the area [would benefit]. Also commuters unfamiliar with the intersection who are less cautious and at risk of getting into an accident.”
4. NE 77th St and 25 Ave NE: Crossing improvements. “Despite the presence of a park directly intended for children, there is only one [painted] crosswalk adjacent to the playfield. Neighborhood residents should not have to choose between crossing a busy street at a corner with no [painted] crosswalk or walking the long way around (a double block up and then back down through the park to the playground) in order to access the park. Children and parents walking from the Ravenna neighborhood to Dahl Playfield” would benefit.
Voting for top priorities will take place in June and July.
Earlier this year, one of our neighbor’s YVYC project idea was implemented: a painted crosswalk at 30th Ave NE and NE 55th Street. Like projects proposed in 2018, the goal of the painted crosswalk is to provide a safer street crossing for pedestrians.
The concerns reflected in the YVYC project ideas are the same as concerns expressed by neighbors in a survey RBCA conducted in 2016. The survey indicated that the top mobility concerns among neighbors have to do with drivers speeding and not yielding to people crossing the street. Since NE 65th Street was identified as particularly unsafe, RBCA joined with the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association and NE Seattle Greenways to advocate for traffic calming and a safer pedestrian environment on NE 65th Street.
Unfortunately, where SDOT chose to put in the painted crosswalk is on the opposite corner from the bus stop. So, people still get off the bus and walk across the busy 55th street without safety aid. Also, SDOT failed to put orange flags with this crosswalk unlike many the crosswalks in View Ridge and even some non-crosswalks that have orange flags.
The Seattle Department of Transportation does not install pedestrian flags but allows community groups to. Here is what the SDOT website says:
In 2008, SDOT received funding from the Seattle City Council to launch a pilot program measuring the effectiveness of pedestrian crossing flags. Pedestrian crossing flags are hand-held flags used by pedestrians to be more visible to approaching traffic; they are not formal traffic control devices.
SDOT installed pedestrian crossing flags at 17 locations under the pilot program. The pilot program ran for three years. After evaluating the results at the 17 pilot locations, which included measuring motorist compliance at these crosswalks, SDOT ended the pilot program. Overall, having a flag available does seem to make pedestrians more visible to motorists, however there was not a consistent pattern of improved compliance observed, and some locations were not able to be evaluated due to frequent theft of the flags.
Because of the limited effectiveness of the flags and the ongoing maintenance associated with them, SDOT will no longer provide replacement pedestrian crossing flags at the pilot locations, and will not install any new locations. SDOT will allow community sponsors to maintain existing locations, which means the community sponsor will provide replacement flags and flag holders as needed. SDOT will also allow new locations to be installed under the guidelines below.
More here: https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/projects-and-programs/programs/pedestrian-program/pedestrian-crossing-flags
This is a safety improvement, however, the road condition of 55th Street is horrible. When it rains the pavement of 55th gets very slick and I am concerned that drivers will not be able to stop for people in the crosswalk. I’ve noticed cars trying to turn up the hill from 30th and spinning their tires and not actually accelerating up the hill.
What can be done to resurface 55th Ave and make it safer for pedestrians crossing?
For information about what the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has planned for improving pedestrian safety, including safer pedestrian crossings, check out:
– The Pedestrian Master Plan: https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/document-library/citywide-plans/modal-plans/pedestrian-master-plan.
– The Vision Zero program: https://www.seattle.gov/visionzero.
Though this year’s Your Voice Your Choice voting period has ended, neighbors can submit ideas for street improvements early next year: https://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/programs-and-services/your-voice-your-choice. In the past, people have submitted several ideas for making NE 55th Street safer – neighbors need to keep submitting ideas to continue to highlight the need.