34th District Democrats, report #1: Admiral Way signal pitch

| Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

As previewed here Wednesday morning, an Admiral Neighborhood Association delegation took the mike at last night’s 34th District Democrats meeting to make a pitch to Mayor Mike McGinn, City Council President Richard Conlin, and Councilmember Bruce Harrell: Make the 47th/Admiral intersection safer with a pedestrian-activated street light. Our clip shows ANA president Katy Walum making the pitch (applauded by the 34th DDs) and the mayor’s reply – which boiled down to, he needs to ask SDOT what they think. Just a few hours earlier, it turns out, Walum had received some new information from SDOT:

She forwarded us a Wednesday afternoon note from SDOT’s Luke Korpi, who wrote that the department “will be conducting another study for a pedestrian signal at Admiral Way at 47th Ave SW. This will probably be completed in about two to three months.”

As for the 34th DDs – we’ve got another story in the works, focusing on the rest of the group’s hour-plus discussion with the mayor and councilmembers – topics ranged from the Viaduct/Tunnel situation to whether the city will step up to fund the White Center Food Bank for the work it does on behalf of in-city residents.

Jeffro June 10, 2010 (7:15 am)

As much as I’d love more crossing signals along Admiral, all this attention paid to the 47th crossing has made for a more dangerous crossing at 49th, which is the one I use. I’d like to see the same done for 49th as is done for 47th, and if that means no signal then I’d rather have that. I know someone died at 47th, but I don’t want someone to die at 49th before we get the flashing-light, extended-curb treatment. If we did the signal according to which crossing was more dangerous, 49th would get it hands down. And I’d wager that just as many people cross at 49th as those that cross at 47th.

ann June 10, 2010 (7:22 am)

Nice work Katy, and to all those who are committed to making this a safer area for West Seattle residents! Crossing anywhere on Admiral except at traffic lights is a scary process!

Alki Bee June 10, 2010 (8:01 am)

Would it be so difficult for a person to walk from 49th to 47th to cross the street? It’s a little unrealistic to expect a signal every two blocks–and just plain strange to prefer nothing at either crossing to an perceived “inequality!”

Jeffro June 10, 2010 (9:55 am)

Would it be inconvenient to make a quarter mile detour up a fairly sizeable hill? You tell me. All I’m asking for is a little consistency in how we organize our unprotected crossings. All the attention that has been lavished on the 47th street crossing has been to the detriment of the crossing at 49th. If we’re playing the game of which crossing is more worthy of a signal, then I should think a crossing where two arterials meet would be the more obvious choice.

sfanda June 10, 2010 (10:36 am)

I have to get onto Admiral from Waite every day and it’s difficult to make that left hand turn with people driving up and down the hill. I don’t think that we need a light though. I think we need to put in stop signs coming from both directions from Admiral. People coming down the hill are picking up quite a bit of speed before they see the crosswalk, so a stop sign before 47th seems to be the best idea to me.

Frogger June 10, 2010 (11:20 am)

It is a little weird to expect someone to walk two blocks to get directly across the street. My bus lets me off right across from my house. If I want to use a controlled intersection, I have to walk two blocks toward the junction and then two blocks back. As it is, I have a marked crossing with pedestrian flags and people still won’t stop because they are already speeding and know that I won’t walk out for fear of getting hit. I believe Jeffro was saying he’d rather have the current flashers at both 47th AND 49th, than see a light at 47th and nothing at 49th. If people won’t stop going 10-15 miles/hour over the speed limit on surface streets and won’t watch for pedestrians, then lights go up. I’m not sorry if a light adds a couple minutes to the commute if it means that pedestrians can be reasonably safe.

Admiral Janeway June 10, 2010 (11:40 am)

If they put up traffic light like the one at the Admiral Viewpoint, I’m all for it.

Aye Jay June 10, 2010 (5:54 pm)

I think for the cost of a traffic light you could put in 3-4 ped islands, with crosswalks, in the middle of Admiral. Also making the roadway narrow slows speed.

Bugga June 11, 2010 (3:23 pm)

This is ridiculous, admiral, a main artery is already plagued with traffic in the evenings because of all the stoplights near California. This will just make it worse, all because people can’t walk a little further? I see people illegally j-walking across that street everyday, those people are creating a hazard. I turn off waite onto admiral every morning and it is not that bad, just have to be patient. I don’t even want to know what would happen in the evenings with people coming home from work. 30 minutes to cross california :rolleyes: