The crosswalk at 24th Ave NW and NW 58th Street is marked, but one Ballardite believes the current markings aren’t enough.
Kevin Tice has applied for a pedestrian-activated cross walk at the intersection through the 2011 Neighborhood Projects Funds. An example of this type of illuminated crosswalk can be found here.
In the application Tice writes, “The current crosswalk has an outdated overhanging crosswalk light that is barely noticeable by cars, especially during overcast weather. The crosswalk signs (one for each side) unfortunately do not deter the vehicles driving at speeds of 25-40 mph from stopping for many pedestrians. I have attached videos [see above] that I took recently of numerous cars passing waiting pedestrians, either because of their speed, or because they could not see them waiting due to parked cars near the intersection. In a span of 30 minutes, I recorded 10 such incidents. I personally have had to run across 24th avenue due to cars not stopping.”
Tice believes that this intersection would benefit by the pedestrian-activated crosswalk to bring attention to pedestrians waiting to cross the street. “The flashing crosswalk in the street is especially ideal at this intersection due to the drivers’ impaired visibility due to the parked cars on the SW corner. These cars block the view of pedestrians waiting to cross westbound. An activated crosswalk would alert all cars that someone is crossing and the pedestrian will feel confident when crossing. An overhead sign is simply not enough.”
The Ballard District Council will review this and all other applications and will rank three projects to forward to the city for possible funding.