Letter: Crossing Madison riskier than it should be

Dear Editor,
Does crossing the intersection near IHOP sometimes feel like a death-defying feat? After several seconds of waiting, have cars either neglected to slow down, or even worse, have cars completely ignored your efforts to cross? This scenario is all too common to any Seattle University student, faculty or staff member who use (or attempts to use), the 10th Avenue and Broadway entrance to school.


What many may not realize is that this cross section of 10th and Madison is in fact a legal crosswalk. That's right; cars have the legal obligation to yield to you as you make your way across the street. According to the standards of Washington state, this area is classified as an unmarked crosswalk, and like most unmarked crosswalks, pedestrians have the right of way at this intersection.

But with so much foot traffic and so many indifferent Seattle drivers unwilling to stop, why hasn't the city done more to improve pedestrian safety at 10th and Madison? A group of concerned Seattle U students recently approached Public Safety with this question. Apparently, the city of Seattle conducted a "flow density" test (pedestrian traffic survey) several years ago at the crosswalk and determined there was "low pedestrian density" and thus the intersection did not need higher standards of safety. During that time, however, the Silver Cloud Inn was not yet in existence, or the vast majority of the housing units, food establishments and retail buildings that now line the Pike/Pine corridor. Not to mention, the university has grown considerably since that time and will only continue to grow if we continue to break freshman class enrollment records.

May 12, we stood at the intersection and both conducted a mini-density test as well as began gathering signatures for a petition to be presented to the city's Pedestrian Safety board in request for higher safety standards. Just as we had expected, a large number of Seattle University faculty, staff, students and neighbors were concerned for their safety. The response to our small endeavor was overwhelming. Within seven hours, we had counted more than 500 pedestrians who had crossed at the intersection, and we had also gathered a little less than 350 signatures for our petition.


For those of you who didn't get a chance to sign the petition, please stop by your favorite treacherous intersection, 10th and Madison, on May 26 between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. to help solve this important Seattle University community safety issue. Your signature will not only help protect yourself as a pedestrian but will also help the community stay safe as they come and go from campus. We hope to see you there!

Jordan Chanes
Ryan Guevara
Ben Mendoza
Katie Ulvestad
Jordan Symington