Demand Safety for Alki Schoolchildren - Put All-Direction Stop Lights at 59th and Admiral!

Children who attend Alki Elementary are now exposed to increased danger each time they cross the intersection at 59th & Admiral to get to school. The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has removed the pedestrian-activated traffic light for crossing SW Admiral Way, a busy arterial in West Seattle, at 59th Ave SW. Children who live on the south side of Admiral must cross Admiral to get to school. For years, the pedestrian-activated traffic light provided for the safest crossing. 

Parents and other area residents had expressed on-going safety concerns associated with traffic exceeding the speed limit and running the red light at the intersection of 59th & Admiral.  SDOT responded to an enforcement concern with an engineering solution by turning the already chaotic and confusing intersection into an all-way stop and turning off the pedestrian-activated traffic light.

The new plan with an all-way stop at a non-typical intersection has increased miscommunication between pedestrians and drivers and even between drivers and drivers.  The all-way stop also creates inefficiencies for vehicle traffic when there are no pedestrians present.  Importantly, cars are now either running the stop signs or entering the intersection before pedestrians have cleared.  The community is witnessing near pedestrian misses by cars on a daily basis, and the lives of children are at stake.  The school principal, PTA, parents and area residents oppose the change.

Pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements for school walk routes benefit the entire community, not just school children. The same routes that children take to school are used evenings and weekends by other neighborhood children and by adults to get to Alki Beach, the Alki Community play field, the Alki Community Center, and Alki Elementary School for afterschool activities and meetings.

Immediate changes are needed to make the intersection safe and usable for our children, and pedestrians generally, as well as for vehicles before a child gets injured or killed.  Help our children and our community by demanding that SDOT install an all-way traffic signal that is pedestrian and vehicle activated, with no turn on red arrows, and traffic cameras to ticket red light and speeding violations, particularly during the school commute. All children deserve a safe route to walk to school.