Why can’t we have more all-walk intersections in Seattle?

Cars, bikes, buses, and streetcars usually get the blame for downtown Seattle’s congestion, but what role do pedestrians play creating traffic backups?

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After spending some time in Los Angeles, I fell in love with the all-walk intersection. They could really help some of the congestion in the downtown core.

The concept has existed for decades but used sparingly in Seattle. About 10 intersections have the all-walk system in place, including First and Pike across from Pike Place Market. That’s where I met Seattle traffic engineer Dongho Chang.

The idea is simple. You give pedestrians their own light cycle to cross the street.

“All the vehicles on First Avenue have a red light and a no turn on red,” Chang said. “It separates the pedestrians that are crossing at this intersection from the vehicles that need to get across.”

If it works at 10 Seattle intersections, why won’t it work everywhere?

“At certain locations, it might not be the best choice,” Chang said. “You’re holding up people for no reason. The demand might be for people walking along the corridor and not crossing. It really depends on the context.”

I asked Chang about certain spots around downtown where cars routinely have to wait for several light cycles to turn because there are so many pedestrians, like around Second or Fourth. He admitted that pedestrians have a huge impact on congestion, whether it’s the sheer volume of people or the people that walk against the lights or walk slowly.

“It has tremendous impact for turning traffic, like Second and Fourth that are really pedestrian corridors. You may get one or two cars at the very end of a cycle being able to turn,” he said.

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While an all-walk intersection might not work in those places, Chang said the city is tweaking the light timing to help vehicles move through faster.

“We are putting in dedicated time for the turners,” he said. “We’ll end the walk time a little bit early to give enough time for a person trying to turn.”

The city is constantly looking at intersections and corridors that could benefit from the all-walk system. The city also takes requests from the public, which it did recently for an intersection on Capitol Hill. It met the criteria, and the city put it in.

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