Residents of these neighborhoods will march along side Feet First members to:
We will meet at Roanoke Park (Intersection of Roanoke and 10 Ave. E.) to make signs and get organized. The action will start at 5:30 PM. If you drive, you can park on Broadway Ave E., which runs along the west side of Roanoke Park.
These neighborhoods have sought the city's help addressing dangerous intersections for years, but to no avail. The action focuses on intersections at Roanoke Park and along Boylston Ave E. Cars heading north on 10th Ave East regularly miss the turn on Roanoke and drive up over the sidewalk where pedestrians wait to cross. Vehicular traffic on Boylston Ave E regularly exceeds posted speed limits to the great peril of pedestrians, bicyclists, and local motorists leaving their driveways. Feet First is working to raise public and government awareness of the importance of pedestrian concerns in the Puget Sound region.
This action comes less than two weeks after 36-year-old Susie Stephens was struck and killed crossing the street while consulting in St. Louis. Susie was a long-time pedestrian and bicycling advocate in Washington State. Chris Leman, board member of the Eastlake Community Council, said "I knew Susie Stephens and feel this effort to spotlight pedestrian safety concerns is a great way to memorialize her." In the year 2000, there were 77 pedestrian fatalities in Washington State alone.
A Crosswalk Action is an organized event in which a group of pedestrians crosses a street in marked and/or unmarked crosswalks in a legal fashion, so as to communicate messages to drivers, pedestrians, and other observers. Members of the organized group carry signs with educational and advocacy messages.
Lack of safety barrier to protect pedestrians on sidewalk from northbound cars on 10th Ave. E. as they turn west onto Roanoke Street. There is a chronic problem with turning cars jumping the curb and going across the Roanoke Street sidewalk into Roanoke Park, near the westbound bus stop. The Seattle Transportation Department opposes placing a highway-type safety barrier, out of concern for the safety of drivers. As a result, pedestrians and those playing in the park are at risk from such collisions, which are a regular occurrence.
Unsafe intersection of I-5 on-ramp with Boylston Ave. E. and E. Newton Street (near underpass under I-5 that leads to Lakeview Boulevard). Traffic on Boylston Ave. E. reaches speeds of 50 mph and more as motorists approach the I-5 on-ramp, endangering pedestrians and bicyclists who are going between the job-rich and residentially dense Lake Union area and the much-used Howe and Blaine Street stairs (which lead to the even more densely populated Capitol Hill). The intersection also denies safe access to the Lakeview-Melrose trail, which affords a safe and scenic walking and bicycle route downtown. Local residences are denied safe access to their driveways, and it is difficult to get in and out of on-street parking and their parked cars. Traffic on this stretch of Boylston has substantially increased in recent years as the Eastlake neighborhood has added commercial and residential density and as others discover this on-ramp. Concerns about the intersection's safety have been expressed in tours by City Councilmembers, the previous Mayor, and the Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board. Petitions and letters by residents and business people call for improvement, which is a high priority in the Eastlake Neighborhood Plan. The Lake Union District Council allocated $5000 in Neighborhood Street Funds to produce an intersection redesign and a curb bulb, but the only improvement so far is a $3000 asphalt curb ramp. The neighborhood awaits a full design by Seattle Transportation, which could include curb bulb, traffic signal, speed reduction measures, and relocating the City's crash cushion to protect those crossing rather than placing them between the crash cushion and oncoming vehicles.
