SAFETY: West Seattle crosswalk concern to be addressed, SDOT says

What you see in that framegrab from the SDOT traffic camera looking south along California SW in The Junction is the raised midblock crosswalk in the 4700 block. WSB reader Karen copied us recently on a note she sent City Councilmember Lisa Herbold about safety concerns:

The painted markings are worn off and make crossing nearly invisible to drivers, particularly northbound drivers in the curb lane, and especially in rain and darkness.

We use that crosswalk weekly and during three of our last four crossings we witnessed, waved at and yelled at drivers speeding through the occupied crosswalk. In talking with local business we learned that repeated requests to SDOT have not been addressed. Action needs to be taken before there is a serious injury or fatality. Please address this ASAP with SDOT.

Today, Karen forwarded this note from SDOT:

As part of the Levy to Move Seattle, SDOT has moved to a four-year rotation schedule for all marked crosswalks in Seattle to ensure that all crosswalks are maintained on a regular basis. SDOT repaints approximately 1,500 crosswalks throughout the city per year. Pavement marking work such as crosswalk repainting requires dry weather, so most of this work occurs during the dry spring and summer months.

We have shared your feedback with our Signs and Markings staff. The crosswalk on the 4700 block of California Avenue SW is scheduled to be repainted this year.

36 Replies to "SAFETY: West Seattle crosswalk concern to be addressed, SDOT says"

  • Chris March 20, 2019 (2:10 pm)

    it is not necessarily this particular crosswalk.   We were in the middle of an intersection with a special needs dog and another dog and still traffic would not stop….crossing from corner to corner.   The senior tells me this happens a lot. I have seen it too as even if in clear sight, drivers will not stop.   We are very thankful to those that do.   This is a city wide problem….not just one crosswalk.

  • Wendell March 20, 2019 (2:13 pm)

    While we’re talking about crosswalks and idiot drivers. The crosswalk further down the road at California and Findlay (although well marked) is a death trap to anyone that isn’t paying attention. It’s safer to wait for a break in traffic and cross mid-block that stand in the middle of that particular crosswalk while drivers fly by only inches away. The C-line bus drivers ignore the rules of the road there, too.

    • kroberts March 20, 2019 (4:29 pm)

      Wendell, that is a particularly hideous intersection. With the C Line stopping on both corners and automobile drivers using the center turn lane as a passing lane to get around the busses. We have also seen drivers use the turn lane to try to drive around the vehicle stopped for pedestrians. We walk this route 4 times a day to take our kids to/from school. That intersection screams the need for a pedestrian controlled crosswalk.

  • donttreadonme March 20, 2019 (2:57 pm)

    This isn’t an SDOT problem, this is a problem with entitled people driving their cars however they want with no regard for others. There needs to be more police enforcement of traffic violations period.

  • KM March 20, 2019 (3:11 pm)

    Not sure painting will help. I was almost struck in this crosswalk several weeks ago, and even after pounding on the drivers side window and she nearly missed me (she was that close) she still refused to acknowledge the situation and pretended still not to see me. If she didn’t see me, she shouldn’t be driving. If she did see me, she should’ve be driving. This happens every damn day to many of people. We need serious traffic enforcement NOW. Unprotected road users continue to put their lives at risk just to get around their city. 

  • Christopher Boffoli March 20, 2019 (3:20 pm)

    Many other places along California are an issue as well.  I frequently use the crosswalks at California/Hines as well as California/Spokane and (despite big yellow signs announcing the crosswalks) routinely have to jump back as drivers refuse to stop when I am already in the crosswalk. People’s desire to use California as a freeway and the total lack of enforcement means that drivers regularly do this with impunity.  Just another small reminder of the extent to which we prioritize cars over pedestrians in this west coast city.

  • Tracie Hiemstra March 20, 2019 (4:14 pm)

    Plus the trees are obstructing views at this one and the other crosswalk further North on California.

    • sw March 20, 2019 (5:02 pm)

      THIS.I don’t know whose idea it was to plant trees at those crosswalk locations, they do obscure people entering the crosswalk. 

      • Chemist March 21, 2019 (8:09 am)

        I agree with those evergreen trees being a terrible choice.  The rules for gardening in planting strips dictate a 30 inch mature height within 10 ft of a driveway or 30 ft of an intersection for visibility reasons.  CAM2305  2304 has an additional clarification for trees, specifically, that the evergreen tree closest to Peter Yi’s dental office certainly runs afoul of.    Plantings in planting strips within
        ten feet (10′) of driveways shall be clear of sight
        obstructions between thirty-two inches (32″)
        and eighty-two inches (82″) in height from the
        ground.

  • wsgal March 20, 2019 (4:16 pm)

    Can we also talk about the California/Alaska intersection – I go through here multiple times a day and during the “all walk” drivers are constantly taking right turns despite it being a “no turn on red” intersection. The “no turn on red” sign should be lit up with a bright red X. I’ve seen so many close calls, super dangerous.        

    • JEM March 20, 2019 (4:40 pm)

      I frequently yell NO TURN ON RED at drivers in the all walk intersection. Once they yelled back “are you the cops?” so I yelled back YES. 

  • Sol Keiter March 20, 2019 (4:24 pm)

    Delridge Way could use some love. There are no crosswalks at all for a good mike stretch from the playfield to a corner store quite a ways down. Crossing the street to grab some coffee or to the playfield is dangerous.

  • Me March 20, 2019 (4:24 pm)

    Drivers at Ittos place and holly Rosary. On California and S.W. Genoese St.never stop at the stop sign. The look left and  clear there car  and Speed off.  I ve told the spd guys on foot patrol.  Ive almost been hit there daily.

  • BJG March 20, 2019 (4:33 pm)

    I would go further and say there has become a noticeable lack of regard for one another in the denser areas of West Seattle, especially around the Junction. Drivers speed and regularly blow through stop signs. They menace pedestrians. Even on the sidewalks, we are being pushed into the streets by others walking in groups and with dogs. Not a glance. Not a concern. It’s disturbing, and very unlike how we’ve know our community to be in years past. What’s the answer to the incivility? It can’t always be policing.

    • Jort March 22, 2019 (5:44 am)

      Well at least the junction merchants think the biggest issue is making sure these drivers have free parking spaces, so there’s that. 

  • newnative March 20, 2019 (4:56 pm)

    And  before anyone comes on here to say pedestrians should be vigilant and the drivers can’t see you, that’s bull-loney. When I’m waiting for the crosswalk light, or the green I have had drivers look at me, wave, then cut me off when I have the right of way. I have had drivers block the crosswalk and not turn their heads to look both ways before pulling onto a road from a side street. I have had drivers block a crosswalk and say stupid stuff to me as I warily cross the road around them. These drivers can see pedestrians, they choose to ignore their right-of-way. 

  • Karen March 20, 2019 (5:16 pm)

    Well, hopefully, my bringing this particular crosswalk to the attention of the City will get my kids enough to live comfortably after some entitled kickass kills me when I’m legally crossing in it.

  • Barbara March 20, 2019 (5:18 pm)

    Painting will help but note the best solution. What happened to the flags??  With the flags I actually thought people noticed them and who slow down or stop. We need the flashing crosswalk lights. 

    • KM March 20, 2019 (5:37 pm)

      There are flashing crosswalk lights at the noted intersection. Are you referring to pedestrian activated flashing lights instead? I’ve heard drivers yell at pedestrians for not using flags, even though they are in no way required to and the pedestrian had the right of way. There is a pattern here…

  • Lisa March 20, 2019 (5:27 pm)

    The crosswalk at 16th & Myrtle is difficult also.  It’s very rare for drivers to stop for me. They look at me and keep going.  Tonight I was almost at the middle of the crosswalk because a driver had stopped for someone else and when the other person didn’t walk the driver kept driving. I was in the crosswalk already. It’s so frustrating. 

  • rico March 20, 2019 (5:30 pm)

    The issue is that SPD rarely enforces basic traffic violations, and people are definitely taking note of this.I do see one particular motorcycle policeman write tickets near Pioneer Square, but in all my time in West Seattle and travels to North Seattle I see many violations, no enforcement.   Outside of Seattle a completely different story.

  • C March 20, 2019 (5:35 pm)

    I have had success with the city going online! Report simple road problems/concerns and make it known that there is pedestrian danger involved and they are all ears. https://www.seattle.gov/transportation/permits-and-services/report-a-problem

  • kjk March 20, 2019 (5:44 pm)

    As long as we’re on the topic of striping. Am I the only driver who is freaked out every time I enter the WS Bridge going eastbound? I can barely see the lane markings on a good day, let alone on a gray rainy day. I have complained to SDOT but so far, crickets.

  • M March 20, 2019 (6:09 pm)

    I wonder if this an opportunity to have them paint something more artful and with more West Seattle character than some boring old white or yellow lines. 

  • NW March 20, 2019 (6:26 pm)

    Pedestrians these days need to make themselves visible with a light no matter what time of day to safely move walk run or otherwise now in general. It is the responsibility of both the drivers but also those on foot or other to be visible. 

  • West Seattle since 1979 March 20, 2019 (6:36 pm)

    Drivers often block the crosswalk at Fauntleroy and Avalon Way. And I’ve become afraid to even cross Avalon at 35th Ave. SW, because people driving north and turning left there (maybe to get to Starbucks?) seem to ignore any pedestrians trying to cross. Even if they don’t actually hit people, they come close and it’s scary.

  • DH March 20, 2019 (6:49 pm)

    I had a driver flip me off and curse at me while the light was red and I was walking my dog in the crosswalk while she was taking on her cellphone. I have been in contact with SPD whose response is they don’t inforce traffic issues between 6pm and 6am. And I live in a school zone next to a heavily used park. Guess if someone gets killed SPD will care. 

    • momof3boys March 21, 2019 (8:42 am)

      SPD enforces 24/7. Quit beating up on the PD. They cannot be everywhere. It’s the driver’s fault, not the PD.

      • brian March 22, 2019 (7:35 am)

        Won’t someone think of the poor cops?     

    • Jort March 22, 2019 (5:46 am)

      I assure you that even if someone is killed, the SPD won’t care. They care more about “traffic flow.” They won’t even pull people over who block the box or drive in bus lanes because they don’t want to cause even more congestion. 

  • Allen Spalt March 20, 2019 (7:41 pm)

    Doesn’t it make sense to have the intersection of California, Edmunds, and Erskin, just south of the Junction, be an all walk intersection?  Otherwise peds often have to wait two cycles to make their crossing. Would be better for all.  

    • frecol March 21, 2019 (9:31 am)

      We absolutely agree that the California, Edmunds and Erskin intersection would be made considerably safer by making it into an ALL WALK intersection.  Drivers making turns often don’t wait for pedestrians.  Pedestrians sometimes cross against the light in frustration as the sequence takes so long.   

  • Peg March 20, 2019 (7:49 pm)

    I have lost count of the cars and trucks that take an immediate “free” left from Roxbury to go south on 35th right through a cross walk light. I carry my mag light flashlight full of batteries to give one extra foot of safety between me and the cars. If they do see what I carry they tend to not get too close. If they ignore me or don’t see me and  get within my safety zone they will know I was there.  

  • zipda March 20, 2019 (10:09 pm)

    Both of the  raised crosswalks in the Junction make it  difficult to see  pedestrians, particularly at night and are partially obscured by trees, parked cars  etc. Just poorly designed and unsafe. At the very least needs much better lighting in addition to re painting.

    • Jort March 22, 2019 (5:47 am)

      Or drivers could slow down and be careful, there’s that option too. 

  • Lincoln park mom March 21, 2019 (12:16 pm)

    The days of sleepy West Seattle are gone.  Unlighted intersection crosswalks are no longer realistic.  Technically I, as a driver, am required to stop at any intersection with or without a crosswalk if a pedestrian is in need of crossing.  I do this frequently and every time I do, I get honked at and/or flipped off by drivers behind me and the drivers coming in the other direction aren’t willing to stop either so the pedestrian just stands there not knowing what to do.  Our community has grown and people are in a hurry to get where they need to be.  It’s time to treat West Seattle as the big city it was never intended to be and put more traffic lights on our intersections in order to protect our pedestrians.  

Sorry, comment time is over.