Bus rider Cynthia Wheaton often uses the stop at 34th Street and Broadway in Everett. Crossing Broadway to use the bus stop, however, can be stressful.
“I wear a bright yellow jacket for visibility and carefully wait for a big gap in traffic both ways, but I have been nearly hit several times,” she writes.
Perhaps the city could install a mid-block crosswalk? “I have seen stop lights that can only be activated by pedestrians on Broadway in front of the Safeway at 18th and at a couple intersections in Issaquah. This seems like it would be a good solution at Broadway and 34th,” she said.
A crosswalk isn’t likely, at least not in the near future.
“The city of Everett does not install crosswalks across uncontrolled multi-lane approaches,” city traffic engineer Tim Miller wrote. “Studies have shown installing marked crosswalks does not necessarily improve safety at uncontrolled approaches. This is due to pedestrians assuming traffic will stop for them in a marked crosswalk. Pedestrians tend to be more cautious when crossing an intersection without marked crosswalks.”
But Miller said the intersection will be put on his watch list to see if a larger pedestrian crossing, like the one Wheaton suggests, may be needed.
“The city will conduct a study of the intersection of 34th and Broadway to determine the pedestrian crossing and traffic volumes, as well as the safety history of the intersection. Depending on the outcome of the study, we may consider crossing enhancements, or possibly relocating the transit stops to a location near a traffic signal where crossing the street would be safer. Relocating bus stops would require coordination among all the serving bus lines.”
Along with Everett Transit, Sound Transit and Community Transit also use that stop.
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