Pedestrian Crossings

Driver Education Campaigns

Washington State Law requires that drivers stop for pedestrians to cross at all intersections, even if they are not marked. Despite broad awareness of this law, we continue to observe low rates of driver compliance. SDOT was successfully awarded a grant from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission to educate drivers and encourage them to drive more safely.

In 2022, we launched a campaign that can be seen on billboards, buses, social media, yard signs, and heard on the radio. The campaign asks drivers to “Slow the Flock Down” and lets them know that in Seattle, most arterial speed limits are 25 mph. We are also asking drivers to “Stop for Flock’s Sake” at both marked and unmarked crosswalks. This is one piece of designing a system to save lives and meet our goal of Vision Zero. 

Crosswalk Requests

We receive a lot of requests from community members who would like a crosswalk to be marked (painted) in their neighborhood.  Nearly all intersections are legal pedestrian crossings, even if a crosswalk is not marked there. At the right location, marking a crosswalk and adding signs increases the number of drivers that stop for people to cross. In turn, this improves safety for pedestrians.

At locations where a crosswalk has been requested, SDOT first conducts an engineering study to determine whether a marked crosswalk is the best improvement for that location given a set of criteria. For example, most four lane roads require a full traffic signal to facilitate pedestrian crossings. 

We must also make difficult decision about where to make improvements, like a marked crosswalk, given our limited resources. Therefore, we generally consider the following factors when deciding whether to mark a crosswalk:

1. If it is a non-arterial or arterial street next to a school and leads to a campus entrance
2. If it is on an arterial street with no more than two travel lanes (could have a center turn lane too), relatively low-to-medium driver speeds and vehicle usage, and has one or more of the following characteristics:

• Connects a multi-use trail
• Part of a Neighborhood Greenway or Healthy Street
• Near a frequent transit stop that is heavily used
• Within a Displacement Risk Index which provides a longer-term view of displacement risk based on neighborhood characteristics like the presence of vulnerable populations and amenities that tend to increase real estate demand.
• Part of a larger infrastructure project, such as corridor repaving
• NOT on a curve or slope where sightlines are a concern
• It is several blocks to the nearest marked crosswalk
• Near destinations where we tend to see more pedestrians such as parks, community spaces (like libraries, food banks, churches), and places serving seniors, kids, or people with disabilities. 

If, based on the above criteria, you feel you have a good location to mark a crosswalk, please submit your request at https://seattle-cwiprod.motorolasolutions.com/cwi/select under “general inquiry - transportation.”

• የእግረኛ መንገድን ለመጠየቅ ቦታውን በኢሜል ወደ walkandbike@seattle.gov በርዕሰ-ጉዳይ መስመር [“crosswalk request”] ይላኩ።
• 欲請求設置行人穿越道，請使用電子郵件將確切地點以郵件主旨 [“crosswalk request”] 發送至walkandbike@seattle.gov。
• 횡단보도 설치를 요청하려면 [“crosswalk request”]라는 제목의 이메일을 walkandbike@seattle.gov로 보내 해당 위치를 알려주십시오.
• Hadii aad rabto inaad codsato isgoys, Fadlan goobta meesha uu ku yaal iimaylkaan ku soo dir walkandbike@seattle.gov Mawduuca iimaylkana waxaad ka dhigtaa [“crosswalk request”].
• Para pedir un cruce peatonal, envíe un correo electrónico con la ubicación a walkandbike@seattle.gov con [“crosswalk request”] en el asunto del mensaje.
• Upang humiling ng tawiran, i-email ang lokasyon sa walkandbike@seattle.gov na mayroon linya ng paksa [“crosswalk request”].
• Để yêu cầu một lối băng qua đường, vui lòng gửi vị trí yêu cầu qua email đến walkandbike@seattle.gov với dòng tiêu đề [“crosswalk request”].

To learn more about which intersections are planned for improvements or have recently been improved, see the Pedestrian Master Plan Implementation Plans which are updated annually.