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Background and Policies Guidelines for marking crosswalksIn recent years there has been an increased awareness about safety at pedestrian crossings. A national study, first released in the summer of 2001 and officially published in 2002, examined hundreds of marked crosswalks across the country. The study then offered guidelines about where a crosswalk can aid in the creation of a comfortable crossing, and where a crosswalk can, in fact, decrease safety. These guidelines on marked crosswalks have been adopted by SDOT in the form of a Director's Rule which can be viewed here. The original study can be viewed here . We generally find that on multi-lane roads (four or more lanes), a marked crosswalk alone will do little to improve driver compliance or pedestrian safety. One of the main reasons is the risk of a multiple threat collision, a situation in which a driver in one lane stops for a pedestrian, but the driver in the next lane does not. We therefore find that on busy streets the most beneficial improvements are either a reduction in the number of vehicle lanes, the installation of a traffic signal or the use of other treatments that improve the safety of the crossing. Marked Crosswalk Inventory - 2001 In the summer of 2001, the Seattle Department of Transportation conducted an inventory of all uncontrolled marked crosswalks - all marked locations, that is, that have no traffic signal or any other form of traffic control - in the City of Seattle. Of the 610 crosswalks on arterial streets inventoried, 84 were identified as locations requiring further investigation. SDOT uses a variety of solutions for improving these crosswalks. We look at whether a change can be made in the roadway itself that would reduce the number of lanes a pedestrian must cross. We consider whether the lanes could be moved to provide a median crossing island. We, along with staff from Signal Operations, follow federal guidelines in considering the possible installation of a traffic signal or a pedestrian signal. That having been said, however, it is sometimes difficult to justify the installation of a traffic signal in situations where there are low volumes of pedestrians. |
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