FOLLOWUP: Students, parents rally for crossing safety on Admiral Way

| Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

Maybe you saw them – or even offered a honk of support, as we heard several drivers do – at 45th SW/SW Admiral Way this morning. As first announced in this comment by Hollye, students and parents gathered to call attention to crossing safety.

Hollye and others have been campaigning for a crosswalk here for two years. Earlier this week, the area drew renewed attention when, just one block west, a driver hit two pedestrians. While SDOT’s SW Admiral Way Safety Project has mostly only addressed crossings further west, this section of the street is just a block from the Lafayette Elementary playground, and on the walking route to Madison Middle School a bit further south on 45th.

They got a high-profile show of support – State Sen. Joe Nguyen, a nearby resident as well as parent of future elementary schoolers.

Besides sign waving, the students enthusiastically shouted slogans such as “Slow and steady wins the race!” After almost half an hour, it was time for everybody to cross Admiral and head to school:

There is some hope for improvements at the intersection – while one of the proposed projects on the Your Voice, Your Choice ballot is titled 44th/Admiral (as reported here earlier this week), the full proposal (PDF) actually appears to suggest most of the improvements go to 45th/Admiral. (YVYC voting continues all month.)

Kathy September 7, 2019 (11:14 am)

Thank you activists, sorry I missed this event.

Daniel Billey September 7, 2019 (12:18 pm)

With all the schools and pedestrian crossings in our North Admiral neighborhood along Admiral and all along California Ave you’d think the Seattle DOT would really work on signage and maintenance for safety’s sake. Check out the very first school zone sign with the flashing lights on California right before Lafayette going southbound. It’s almost completely covered with sucker limbs from the nearby tree. I’m tempted to stop by and prune them, but somewhat fearful of some crazy city statute that would fine me.

49th+Admiral September 8, 2019 (1:23 am)

Great to see! I cross Admiral at 49th everyday to catch bus and am constantly blown away by the audacity of so many drivers who see a pedestrian, not only waiting to cross a marked crosswalk but also are halfway across. I’ve made glaring eye contact with so many drivers who for some reason forget how to use breaks. Saw a older guy speeding up admiral in his silver Benz, see a older lady mid way through x-walk and he decided maintain his speed and just swerve around her, then shakes his head in irritation and sped off. Obviously he had more important things to attend to… Every one drives around like their in an Indy car; swerving around obstacles instead slowing down to break. Don’t get me started on the amount of people I see, young and old, staring at their phone while driving.Luckily, 25 years ago when I started kindergarten at Gatewood some teacher made sure I looked left right left before I crossed the street. I still do it to this day, but because of the curve on Admiral/49th no matter how many times I look both ways and see it’s clear I know that as soon as I steep into the street a car could speed around the bend. I’m frozen in the suicide lane. Do I stop and risk getting hit if the person decides to get in suicide lane to turn, do I try to get to other side, or do I run back. I’ve had to stand in that suicide lane many times as car after car whizzes by as they give me this look like “oops maybe the next car will let you cross”.This is all against the law. Did they stop teaching this in drivers ed?People have been hurt and even killed on this street! There are some people who are careless when crossing a street but the issue here is that this crosswalk creates a false sense of security. I’m not worried about getting hurt, I’m worried about the kid who thinks they are safe in a crosswalk that is not or the person who can’t move fast enough.Not all the blame is on the drivers, I’ll admit the signage is crap and if you were from out of town you wouldn’t know there was a crosswalk until you passed it. The crosswalk either needs to be removed or updated. The city prioritizes taking away car lanes and lowering speeds to improve safety, the problem is people love driving fast and reckless regardless.Seattle driver rant over

Gordon September 10, 2019 (10:32 am)

Hollye,Thank you for leading this rally to bring attention to safe crossings for kids, seniors, and everybody in between. I’d love to get in touch to see how the organization I work for, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, can help. Can you email me at info@seattlegreenways.org? Thanks!Gordon Padelfordhttp://seattlegreenways.org

Kathy September 18, 2019 (10:49 am)

A related safety issue, I contacted Brad Topol at SDOT, and he said the Leading Pedestrian Interval signal change at SW Lander and California Ave SW has finally been installed. Hopefully that will make that intersection safer for pedestrians.

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