Seattle has pitfalls for pedestrians everywhere.

In Pioneer Square, many streets do not have walk/don’t walk signs. Why?

On Alaskan Way, specifically at Columbia, there is a very long distance between crosswalk and line where cars wait at red light. As a result when a car runs this red light, they enter the crosswalk well after the walk sign is illuminated. This has resulted in accidents there. Yet nothing is done.

Years ago, I saw motorcyle cops handing out tickets for running red lights. Not any more. As a result the whole city runs red lights with impunity.

Many load/unload zones are placed right next to crosswalks. When trucks are parked in these zones they shield the view of traffic. Combine this with lack of enforcement of red lights and you have a recipe for disaster.

Despite the apparent prioritizing of this issue by Mayor Nickels, I have noticed no improvements to pedestrian safety downtown.

One effective way to address this would be to have a hotline and/or special email address for citizens to report unsafe situations they notice.

These could then be followed up with some common sense engineering.