Whose Sign Is It, Anyway?

As a commuter moving up and down Olive Way every day, I always notice when something changes on the street. And on the morning of February 29th, what I saw was admittedly anticlimactic: a missing pedestrian sign and signal at the on-ramp to Interstate 5. I tweeted the problem to local government agencies, expecting a quick fix, but what followed was a blame-shedding game of hot potato and a disappointing look into the bureaucratic agencies that manage our safety on the streets. Urbanists expect better from our local transportation departments.

Background

The signals in question are technically known as Rapid Flashing Beacons (RFB). In combination with high visibility signs, they catch drivers’ attention with button-activated LED lights that flash in a staccato pattern similar to emergency vehicle lights. And at capital cost of $10,000 to $15,000 per pair, they are cheaper than the $250,000 to $500,00 price for a traditional traffic signal. Introduced within the last decade, they are a new tool for improving pedestrian and bicyclist visibility at roadway crossings, and are frequently used at midblock crosswalks, roundabout entries, and even regular uncontrolled intersections (oftentimes near schools).

A blog post from the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) highlights the safety benefits of RFBs:

“…going from a no-beacon arrangement to a two-beacon system…[increases driver] yielding from 18 to 81 percent! The report sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration…evaluated sites over a one-year period and found that there was little to no decrease on yielding behavior over time.”

The location on Olive Way, just west of the Melrose Avenue intersection, is a pedestrian crosswalk on a two lane on-ramp to northbound Interstate 5. One of the lanes is a queue jump for high-occupancy-vehicles and sees frequent bus use. With the Olive Way overpass being a strong connection between Capitol Hill residents and Downtown jobs, the crosswalk is one of the busiest at a freeway interchange in King County.

In July 2013, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), recognizing an opportunity for improvement and having jurisdiction over the on-ramp, moved the crosswalk, built curb ramps, and installed the RFBs. WSDOT noted this was the first installation of an RFB system in Seattle. Seattle and other municipalities have begun installing RFBs on local streets within the last few years. Below are two examples.

The Incident

Around 3am on February 29, 2016, a driver under the influence sped off the Olive Way on-ramp, hit multiple sign poles and parked cars, and crashed into a nearby apartment building.

Not knowing any of this background information, on my morning commute that day I discovered the right-hand RFB knocked from its mount and laying in the grass, along with a freeway sign hanging on one leg and bent parking signs at the Melrose intersection.

The first tweet that started the epic saga included the above pictures and pinged SDOT and the Seattle Police Department. Dongho Chang, SDOT’s Chief Traffic Engineer, helpfully replied and looped in WSDOT Traffic.