October 19

More crosswalks, fewer parking spaces

Uncategorized

5  comments

Crews today were busy marking up Roosevelt Way Northeast for three new crosswalks at Northeast 90th, 92nd and 97th streets.

But at the same time, another crew was busy removing a handful of the parking spaces next to the Legend House apartments at 9720 Roosevelt Way N.E. to provide safer access for pedestrians heading to and from the new crosswalk.

Previously, the nine parking spaces on the south side of the complex on 97th Street were perpendicular to the street, but Legend House manager David Feldman says the city is requiring him to change the layout so cars are parked parallel to the street.

Marybeth Turner with the Seattle Department of Transportation tells Maple Leaf Life that the change was requested “in response to residents in the area who have expressed concern with pedestrian safety at this location” because they had to walk on the road to navigate around the parked cars.

“So now we’re going to have my residents parking in front of your houses,” Feldman said, who pointed out that pedestrians have to walk on the road regardless because, like much in of north Maple Leaf, there are only sporadic sidewalks on Northeast 97th Street.

He adds that the apartment complex, built in 1955, has 42 units, but its parking lot only has enough spaces for about half of those units, although street parking also is available on Roosevelt Way in addition to Northeast 97th and 98th streets.

Turner said that SDOT will be adding signs to remind residents they must park parallel there, in addition to signs at all of the new crosswalks on Roosevelt to remind drivers that parking is prohibited within 20 feet of a legal crossing.

Are safer paths for both pedestrians and bicyclists worth the loss of a few parking spaces in your part of Maple Leaf? Keep in mind, we’ll likely lose many more parking areas if we ever get sidewalks.

About the author 

master

You may also like

Sephora coming to Ballard Blocks 2

Sephora coming to Ballard Blocks 2

Self-Defense Class

Self-Defense Class

Fall Budget // Accountability Partners on SPD’s Crowd Control Policies // Internet for All // COVID Rental Assistance // Community News You Can Use

Fall Budget // Accountability Partners on SPD’s Crowd Control Policies // Internet for All // COVID Rental Assistance // Community News You Can Use

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. Yes having bike lanes on Roosevelt and 5th is redundent and very distracting. Funny how there is plenty of money to draw in bike lanes, but none to fill in all the potholes that are in the area and certainly a hazard to bikers and cars. Bicyclists should have to pay for these changes as well especially since they are the ones benefitting. They should have a liscense like cars do for adult riders and have to pay a fee and insurance. If they are to be granted the same courtesy on the road as other cars, then they have to follow the same rules. Then many of us would resent them less. ~ thanks,

  2. their = they’re, whoops!

    Also, I wanted to point out that we won’t know how the bike lanes work until people have lived with them for a year or two. They will eventually become second-nature to all drivers.

  3. Those cars parked perpendicular and not parallel to the street were actually a hazard, particularly the ones closest to the intersection. It’s too bad their losing their parking, but it wasn’t safe before.

    Seems like the owner of the property could reconfigure some of its existing off-street in various ways as well.

    The crosswalk is more needed than are those parking spots, and I have no doubt the residents will find a neighborly way to park elsewhere in the neighborhood, if needed.

  4. I don’t think we need to have bike lanes on both Roosevelt and 5th. How about doing what Portland does and have a bike boulevard (a street designated primarily for bikes) so we don’t have two half asses bike streets. I’ve already seen a case where a bicyclist was almost hit by a car pulling away from the curb across the bike lane on Roosevelt.

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}

Subscribe to our newsletter now!