Alongside the new four-way stop at Queen Anne Ave N and W Crockett St, a representative from SDOT says they will be painting new crosswalks on all four sides of the intersection either tomorrow or Saturday, March 20.
SDOT anticipated that the new crosswalks will help motorists get more accustomed to the new stop.
“I know some people have been accidentally speeding through, even though the street is marked with stop warning signs,” one SDOT representative said.
But this isn’t the only intersection to get a face lift this week. A new marked crosswalk has also cropped up today just down the street at Queen Anne Ave N and Garfield.
Though one reader, Anna, admits the new crosswalk will help people going to and from the gym to their cars and other businesses along the block, she wonders if the new stops and crosswalks aren’t getting a little excessive. She wrote,
I am all for pedestrian safety, but isn’t this getting kind of ridiculous? It seems like all the drivers up here are cautious and aware of all the pedestrians. I live on QA Ave and the only problems I run into are the people who don’t know where they are going so don’t realize they have to drive 15 mph down the Ave. What’s next – making QA Ave into a pedestrian boulevard?
What do you think? Should SDOT relax their recent pedestrian safety efforts and trust drivers to look out, or should they continue to line Queen Anne Ave with marked stops and crossings? Comment below.
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25 responses so far ↓
1 pbb // Mar 18, 2010 at 10:22 pm
The more the better! People drive so fast up here. That being said, how about a flashing red light at the intersection of Blaine st and 2nd Ave N???!!! There are about 6 accidents a year at that intersection, one fatality a couple years ago. More crosswalks, stop signs and flashing red lights please!!!
2 name // Mar 18, 2010 at 10:27 pm
Absolutely. That intersection is dangerous to drive through and even more so to walk through.
What I think it needs is a roundabout. Anytime I'm coming up Blaine (from QA Ave) all oncoming traffic is almost always in my lane. If there were a roundabout there all the traffic would push back into their own lane, as they should be doing anyway.
3 pbb // Mar 18, 2010 at 10:31 pm
Great idea! A roundabout would eliminate people blindly speeding through without yielding. The only problem is the #4 bus route. Most likely the bus couldn't navigate the roundabout. Great idea though. Perhaps we need to ask the city to take some action???
4 Eric H // Mar 18, 2010 at 10:43 pm
“I am all for pedestrian safety, but isn’t this getting kind of ridiculous? It seems like all the drivers up here are cautious and aware of all the pedestrians. I live on QA Ave and the only problems I run into are the people who don’t know where they are going so don’t realize they have to drive 15 mph down the Ave. What’s next – making QA Ave into a pedestrian boulevard?”
It sucks to cross QA Ave if you're not at a stop sign/light. No one even stops at the crosswalk outside Pasta & Co. As for making QA Ave a pedestrian boulevard? Yes, please!
5 Allison // Mar 18, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Eh, I wouldn't mind stopping my car at every intersection along there — it's worth it to be able to cross more safely when on foot. It's pleasant to poke along slowly, looking at the people and shops. The needs of pedestrians to walk safely should outweigh the needs of drivers to move quickly. It's not that big a deal to stop a few times.
6 QueenAnneView // Mar 19, 2010 at 12:00 am
I ran into an SDOT employee on Queen Anne Ave today and he gave me the number to call to make requests for stop signs, crosswalks, lights, etc. You can call the SDOT Dispatch at (206) 386-1206.
7 Name // Mar 19, 2010 at 1:04 am
What an eccentric/senseless quote to feature as the single example of reader-feedback on this subject.
8 PleaseStayAwhile // Mar 19, 2010 at 2:03 am
SDOT is making great progress! I'm surprised that the last paragraph is attempting to imply debate. Stop signs and paint aren't a matter of trust but of basic organization and clarity, just like lane markers and street lights. We overlook the intersection of Garfield and Queen Anne Ave. If only the bare basics of a functioning interesction were added (stop signs on four sides and crosswalk paint on four sides), our view would become significantly less “interesting.” We hope that SDOT will continue their progress and add the needed stop signs for a four-way intersection here. A couple of weeks ago, an unfortunate injury accident involving a motorcyclist and car occurred here. We see near-daily demonstrations of the sensory overload of this virtual 5-way unmarked intersection (including the 7-11 drive) — pedestrians that are somehow invisible to drivers not expecting them in the too-subtle intersection, drivers growing impatient and reckless as they wait for a legal opening to turn onto Queen Anne from Garfield, and, at the very least, many people's days getting ruined as they encounter this spot — and each other — in a parade of misunderstandings and near-misses. If all sides just stopped at a stop sign for a few seconds, had a chance to take in the crossing, and took turns with each other in a more organized fashion, we'd not only have a safter intersection but a more efficient one. Keep up the great work, SDOT, and thank you!
9 Matt_the_Engineer // Mar 19, 2010 at 3:08 am
Tell me more about the “making QA Ave into a pedestrian boulevard” idea.
(I'm mostly kidding, as this would just push cars to residential streets, but a man can dream…)
10 Name // Mar 19, 2010 at 4:06 am
We often walk from where the #3/4 bus drops (at either Safeway or Bartells) to the Queen Anne library and Trader Joe's and back. I love the idea of more crosswalks! It will also make getting in and out of the QA Farmers Market safer. Now if they make a bus that goes from Safeway to Trader Joe's so I don't have to walk the whole way and lug my bags back……
11 Julie Whitehorn // Mar 19, 2010 at 6:14 am
This will help pedestrians cross safely during the Thursday farmers market (opening a month earlier this year, on May 20th). We had some scary near-hits last summer. As for making QA Avenue a pedestrian boulevard, how about doing that once a year for a parade during Seafair?
12 Matt_the_Engineer // Mar 19, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Try the 13! Yeah you may have to wait half an hour, but if you're that lazy it might be your solution.
13 Matt_the_Engineer // Mar 19, 2010 at 4:27 pm
I think Holloween would be a good time to close QA Ave. Children are crammed elephant-trunk-to-ferry-wing on the narrow sidewalks while the slow moving car traffic sits in its large lanes.
14 mark // Mar 19, 2010 at 6:01 pm
I have never had a problem crossing QA Ave, but then again I'm alert and aware of my surroundings. Maybe it is busier between 9am and 5PM, but I just dont see how it could be. Besides, having stop and go traffic and cars idling for extended periods of time becasue there is a stop sign every two feet is just going to force little kids to suck in the toxic exhaust fumes.
But then again it may be worth it so that people can cross the street without looking.
15 ballardjavier // Mar 19, 2010 at 6:14 pm
I sort of agree with Anne's comments.
I am all for pedestrian safety, but putting a stop sign at each intersection seems like too much.
Add to much restriction in any give byway and folks are just going to shift their routes to one of the residential streets west, much like it happens with 6th and 7th after they added the speed bumps a few blocks north of Galer.
How about folks just learn to walk the extra block to an existing signed intersection?
Barring that, I say periodic, targeted enforcement of speed and pedestrian yield laws would be a better way to go. I almost never see cops there doing any enforcement, except for parking perhaps.
16 ballardjavier // Mar 19, 2010 at 6:18 pm
How about temporary stop signs during Farmer's Market instead of a permanent stop sign there?
17 Name // Mar 19, 2010 at 7:59 pm
It can be hard to cross QA Ave, especially with little kids in tow, so I'm all for slowing drivers down, and jolting them out of hurried mentality so many seem to have. I doubt much traffic will reroute to side streets, as most of those are so narrow only one direction can be served at a time. Drivers need to come to the complete realization that QA Ave is a busy, pedestrian-filled shopping district, rather than a fast track from point A to point B.
I completely agree that pedestrians need to look out for themselves a bit better, however. I can't count the number of times I have already been pulling my car into an intersection – slowly and carefully – and someone has waltzed right into the intersection without ever breaking stride. Then no drivers can move, because there's a car in the intersection. Pedestrians need to learn to stop and look just like drivers.
Contrary to what some have posted elsewhere on this blog, it's not people with kids who don't know how to be safe, considerate pedestrians; in my experience it is people walking alone. YMMV.
18 Name // Mar 21, 2010 at 6:03 pm
Great! Yet another barrier on the ONLY North/South arterial from downtown. SDOT says they're doing this in the interest of public safety, but it's getting difficult to drive more than one block on QA Ave without having to stop, and that has already resulted in increased traffic on 1st Ave N and 1st Ave W; both residential streets populated by kids, a retirement home, a park, a school, etc, etc.
When was the last time a pedestrian was hit by a car on QA Ave?
SDOT needs to think more than one step ahead before throwing stop signs up at every intersection, and really consider the consequences.
19 Name // Mar 21, 2010 at 6:11 pm
I've never had a problem crossing Queen Anne Ave at a marked intersection, and rarely have to wait more than a few seconds to jaywalk even at rush hour.
If I am jaywalking, I DO notice the cars coming at much closer intervals, since they are all having to stop a block away.
Living near 1st Ave N, I am extremely concerned about the amount of traffic flying up this narrow street with parking on both sides.
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