Several items tonight: First, we heard this week from Michael Taylor-Judd, who attended a recent city Pedestrian Safety Advisory Group meeting and came away with information he wanted to share, including some followup on comments made after the California/Dawson crash last week that killed 92-year-old Rosemary MacCorkindale (most recent update: police were looking for witnesses):

Shane DeWald spoke to me afterward. She is a Senior Landscape Architect with SDOT’s Urban Forestry division. She was very interested in learning more about the comments folks made after last week’s fatality about whether or not shading caused by trees could have contributed the accident. She encouraged folks to contact her with concerns about whether some streets/crossings might need a more aggressive trimming schedule. She can be reached at (206) 684-5041 or shane.dewald@seattle.gov.

2) Megan Hoyt also spoke to me afterward. She is the Pedestrian & Bicycle Program Coordinator for SDOT’s Traffic Management Division. She provided a general phone number and e-mail address for the program — (206) 684-7583 and walkandbike@seattle.gov — and encourages folks to make comments to the group about where safety improvements need to be made. More can be found out about the program on their website — http://seattle.gov/transportation/walkandbike.htm — along with links to work on the Pedestrian Master Plan.

Second, two reminders about next week: First, Councilmember Nick Licata is sponsoring a forum downtown on Monday night about his proposal to move $40 million-plus from the Mercer Street project to pedestrian/bicycle improvements (read more here). The next day, Tuesday, is the pedestrian-safety demonstration at 35th/Juneau (map), first mentioned here; the time’s now set for 3-4 pm and this flyer is being circulated: