Everyone who’s been to Westwood Village and/or neighboring Roxhill Park has seen this many times, and often in much greater numbers – the lineup of “for sale” cars along Barton. It’s long been a neighborhood sore spot, not to mention a safety hazard, among other things. This morning, after the latest Westwood Neighborhood Council meeting, president Steven Fischer sends word of major progress – on the parking issue and on crosswalk concerns in the nearby area where a woman was hit and killed in February:

Here’s Fischer’s e-mail in its entirety, including two SDOT e-mails:

The Westwood Neighborhood Council has been working with the City to remove the cars parking along Barton Street with the “For Sale” signs. This is occurring adjacent to Roxhill Park. Neighbors in this area have complained about increased crime and car prowls. Parking adjacent to the park should be for park users…not for the sale of cars. We are proud to announce that the City is going to move on this issue….with the posting of limited parking signs (4 hour) in this location. Please see the two emails posted
below.

Additionally, the City will be making improvements to the crosswalk at Barton (between Roxhill and the shopping mall) this year.

Steven Fischer
Westwood Neighborhood Council

(first city e-mail)

… First, we will go ahead and post the 4-hour, time-limited parking adjacent to the park, 7 days per week. Also, we will install 40-foot tow-away zones at the crosswalk on both sides of the street to improve sight distance. SDOT’s Megan Hoyt manages the Pedestrian and Bicycle program and may have additional information or thoughts about the crosswalk and related pedestrian issues. I expect the signs I described will be installed within the next 2-3 weeks. I would appreciate any feedback in the weeks and months after they are installed to see if they help address the issues you describe.

Mike Estey
Manager of Parking Operations and Traffic Permits
Traffic Management Division
Seattle Department of Transportation
Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 5th Avenue, Suite 3900
P.O. Box 34996
Seattle, WA 98124-4996

(second city e-mail)

To add on to Mike’s note, Pedestrian and Bicycle Program staff identified improvements to this marked crosswalk in addition to the parking changes:

– The marked crosswalk and median island were not aligned with the curb ramps on the north and south side of SW Barton Street. SDOT will relocate the median island and crosswalk so that they better correspond to where the curb ramps are. The ramps themselves will be upgraded to the latest ADA standards. This work will occur in the summer.

– We will upgrade all of the pedestrian signs at the marked crosswalk, and in advance of it, to new fluorescent yellow-green signs. This is the color that you may have seen on school crosswalk signs – it is quite bright. Sign upgrades will occur this spring.

The new signage, combined with the additional parking restrictions, should improve visibility and awareness at this marked crosswalk. While I will also not be able to attend tonight’s meeting, I would be very interested in what feedback you receive – both at the meeting and as these changes are made.

Thank you for writing,

Megan
=======================
Megan Hoyt
Pedestrian and Bicycle Program Coordinator
Seattle Department of Transportation
700 Fifth Avenue, Suite 3900
PO Box 34996
Seattle, WA 98124-4996