Tag Archives: vision zero

Seattle streets to get more ‘NO TURN ON RED’ signs

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A new policy is the start of eliminating dangerous “right on red” intersections in Seattle.

The Urbanist reports the Seattle Department of Transportation rolled out a new policy in March calling for street projects replacing or modifying a traffic signal to default to no-right-on-red signage.

“The change doesn’t mean that right-on-red will be restricted every single intersection in Seattle anytime soon, but rather that every time a project within the department deals with replacing or modifying a traffic signal, SDOT will have to find a reason justifying not to add ‘no turn on red’ signage,” the Urbanist reports.

The SDOT memo on the change cites a study published in the journal of the Institute of Traffic Engineers that found “driver-to-driver conflicts were reduced by 97%, and vehicle-pedestrian conflicts were reduced by 92% following the installation of consistent no-turn-on-red (NTOR) signage,” according to the Urbanist report.

The Seattle Times reports the city “has already begun upping the number of intersections where right turns are barred” noting new restrictive signage at 28 downtown intersections, with 13 more to be installed by the end of June.

Right on red wasn’t always legal but became the norm in western states by the 1950s and spread across the country by the 1970s with the automobile industry touting potential gas-saving benefits. Efforts to restrict the maneuver in Washington state have mostly stalled.

Enforcement, meanwhile, will mostly be left to insurers and accident investigators. Traffic tickets issued by Seattle Police have dropped massively from pre-pandemic levels with tallies down from between 70% and 90% depending on how you count it.

The Seattle change joins other systemic approaches to try to make Seattle’s streets safer including efforts to limit intersections where left-hand turns are allowed, a change that can be seen up and down Broadway in changes made in conjunction with the opening of Capitol Hill Station.

Meanwhile, with more solid separation coming along with the planned bike lane and pedestrian improvements as Pike and Pine are shifted to one-way streets below Bellevue, Broadway’s much-maligned plastic posts along the street’s “bikeway” have been replaced in sections with cement separators in recent work by SDOT.

CHS reported here on Department of Transportation head Greg Spotts’s plan for overhauling Seattle’s approach to street safety to better incorporate so-called “Vision Zero” concepts into every project and to implement a “safe systems” model with roads designed to be “self-enforcing.”

According to the city, people walking and biking are involved in 7% of the traffic collisions in Seattle and account for 66% of the traffic fatalities. Seattle’s Vision Zero program was launched in 2015 with a goal to end serious injuries and fatalities citywide by 2030.

 

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Vision Zero and ‘self-enforcing’ roads: Here is how the city’s transportation head says Seattle will make its streets safer

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Up against a rising tide, SDOT’s Vision Zero overhaul comes amid a nationwide road safety crisis

(Source: SDOT Vision Zero Top to Bottom Review)

A City Council committee Tuesday will hear new Department of Transportation head Greg Spotts’s plan for overhauling Seattle’s approach to street safety to better incorporate so-called “Vision Zero” concepts into every project and to implement a “safe systems” model with roads designed to be “self-enforcing.”

Spotts’s report (PDF) on the plan was released in late February. “The draft Vision Zero ‘Top to Bottom Review’ has been circulating internally and has catalyzed productive conversations about what specifically we can do this year to make our streets safer. In the coming weeks we will be sharing info on action steps and funding,” the director said earlier this year.

“People at multiple levels of government are collaborating on this urgent issue and positive change is coming,” Spotts added. “We feel the urgency and we are committed to meaningful action for safer streets with a focus on underserved communities.”

The report follows Mayor Bruce Harrell’s selection of the former chief sustainability officer at the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services and “15-minute city advocate” last summer to lead SDOT as the mayor said he was seeking a more “balanced” approach that better recognizes “the role of cars and new electric vehicles.”

And it comes as Seattle is grappling with its place in nationwide trends indicating the roadways are increasingly deadly — especially for those walking or riding bikes. Lowering speed limits hasn’t helped on its own.

According to the city, people walking and biking are involved in 7% of the traffic collisions in Seattle and account for 66% of the traffic fatalities. Seattle’s Vision Zero program was launched in 2015 with a goal to end serious injuries and fatalities citywide by 2030.

“We found that safety interventions and countermeasures used by SDOT to advance Vision Zero make our streets safer,” the executive summary of the new report says. “We also identified dozens of potential opportunities to improve SDOT’s Vision Zero efforts – by strengthening policies and improving policy implementation, streamlining decision-making, improving project delivery, and moving more quickly toward broader implementation of proven interventions where they are most needed.” Continue reading →

Family of woman killed by E Madison hit and run driver asks for public’s help in investigation — UPDATE

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Family of the 80-year-old woman struck and killed by a hit and run van driver Sunday on E Madison has posted flyers at the intersection asking for help.

The posters seeking witnesses to the collision ask anyone with information to contact Seattle Police. Earlier Monday, police released an update announcing the woman had died from her injuries but did not have new information about the investigation or any arrests.

The King County Medical Examiner’s office said the woman would be publicly identified later today. UPDATE: Investigators say Bari Barbara Hill, 80, died Sunday night of multiple blunt force injuries. According to public records, she was a resident of Madison Park where she had a 43rd Ave E apartment.

CHS reported here on Sunday’s just before 5 PM incident. Witnesses reported the woman was struck while crossing E Madison at 22nd Ave in the crosswalk either riding or pushing a bike when she was hit. Police say the driver was turning left onto Madison from 22nd Ave in front of the Safeway when the woman was struck. Continue reading →

23rd Ave Vision Zero work ready to move into fifth year of construction — including 23rd and John overhaul

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We’re still almost a year away from the start of construction on the northern segment of 23rd Ave. When it’s done, expect some big changes to the intersection at John Street, and lots of other little upgrades scattered about.

If it feels like some kind of construction has been happening on 23rd Ave for a long time, that’s because it has. Major roadwork began on 23rd back in 2015, with the section between Madison and Jackson streets. That phase wrapped up in 2017, and then work started on the stretch between Jackson and Rainier. While the work is largely done there, there are still some bits left such as intersections and sidewalk ramps.

The stretch from John to Roanoke is next in line for a series of upgrades. In 2018, the city put that stretch of 23rd (which is actually 24th for most of its length) on a road diet, leaving two southbound lanes, but changing one of the northbound lanes into a turn lane.

But the project is far from over. In the next couple of weeks, the city plans to install High Friction Surface Treatments at Lousia, Lynn and Helen streets. The treatments, a layer of a rough, granular coating, should provide some extra grip to help cars navigate the road without skidding. The hope is that crews will be able to install the treatments over a weekend, probably the weekend after Labor Day, if the weather cooperates. Continue reading →