Residents Worried About Pedestrians Trying to Cross Busy NE 45th Street

 

Two radar speed signs installed temporarily in March on NE 45th Street

with overpass in background

We received this email from a Blog reader:

I'm hoping you can warn pedestrians, especially those with small children and/or dogs against crossing NE 45th Street at 45th Avenue NE where there is no cross walk and west bound cars are coming over the hill and do not see them until they have to brake quickly.   

Three times in the last two weeks this situation has occurred, twice Mom's with little ones on their way to school  and once a man and his dog in the evening when the sun was in my eyes.   

I know it is not as convenient but people should cross Ne 45th Street using the overpass.  Please post this as maybe people new to the neighborhood don't know this is the proper way and safest way to cross NE 45th.  concerned neighbor!

 

Last month we posted about two parents of Laurelhurst Elementary School children, who submitted a request to SDOT to have radar speed signs installed for one week due to high traffic on NE 45th Street and cars going over the speed limit. SDOT"s study showed that the average speed over 24 hours shows 23.9mph and maximum speed shows 0.1% of 7,686 cars going 65.2mph.

The two Laurelhurst Elementary school fathers also submitted an application, currently under review by the Northeast District Council, for the Neighborhood Park and Street Fund for either radar signs and/or flashing yellow  lights.

During school hours, flaggers try to direct children onto the NE 45th Street overpass as well as into the crosswalks.

The Laurelhurst Community Club told us:

Pedestrians are allowed to cross at street corners whether or not there is a crosswalk.  The problem is that drivers often don’t stop if pedestrians are waiting to cross.   

SDOT is reluctant to install crosswalks because they think it gives pedestrians a false sense of security—flashing lights or traffic signals assist in getting cars to slow.   

Pedestrians always have the right-of-way at street corners.  It is unclear if they do in areas where there is a corner on one side of the street, but not the other.  

Our NE 45th Street overpass was an important attempt to keep our pedestrians safe, but some still choose to cross at corners.