The death of elderly resident Alton Brand in the crosswalk of 41st Avenue East and East Madison Street in Madison Park last New Year's Eve is still under investigation.
In a couple of weeks, Seattle Police Department Det. Mike Korner, of the Traffic Collision Investigation Squad, will forward his findings to the King County Prosecutor's Office.
Meanwhile, Seattle City Attorney Tom Carr has been working on getting the statewide pedestrian safety statute amended. Currently, unintentionally striking and killing a pedestrian or bicyclist in a crosswalk with a car is considered a traffic infraction and the driver receives a traffic ticket. Carr hopes to change the incident from a traffic infraction to a criminal offense.
"He's very much in favor of making it a crime to hit a pedestrian," said Carr's assistant Ruth Bowman.
(For Alton Brand's obituary, see the Obituaries section.)
It's promising and essential, said community-council president Gary Emslie. He explained that developing a solid bond between residents and merchants will give the entire Valley more power to solicit much-needed but very scarce project funding from the city.
He said that in no instance will this be more important than trying to resolve one of the biggest problems facing the Madison Valley: pedestrian and traffic safety.
"I think that parking is one of the issues," he said, "but the real issue now in the business corridor is safety. People are at their own peril. I think that it's a common interest for both the merchants and the neighbors."
Emslie said that even though increased activity and density in the business district contributes to the growing problem, the real culprit is poor city planning and neglect.
"The city has cut back so much of its programs," he said. "They haven't placed the resources necessary for the infrastructure for the last 10 or 15 years, and we're going to pay for it."
There may be some hope that Emslie's theory of community pressure may already be working, if only slightly. Responding to community requests, the city is considering installing a pedestrian crosswalk in the vicinity of Café Flora, in the 2900 block of Madison Street.
According to Department of Transportation pedestrian-safety engineer Megan Hoyt, a feasibility study, which includes a hand count of pedestrian traffic in the area, could start in the next few weeks. She said that if it is determined that a crosswalk is appropriate for the site, the department will then present its findings to the community for feedback.
"In the end, we want this to benefit them," Hoyt said.
She added that the project, which would include a painted crosswalk and sidewalk signs, would cost about $2,000 to install and would be paid for by money already in the depart-ment's budget. If the community wanted to add features, such as curb bulbs to add more visibility, the funding probably would need to come from neighborhood grants or other independent sources, she said.
With so much developing so quickly in Madison Valley, any step that serves both the business district and its neighbors should be seen as a positive stride. "Healthy schools and healthy commerce can make for a good neighborhood," Emslie said.
Dennis Pauley can be reached via e-mail at mptimes@nwlink.com.[[In-content Ad]]
