It’s going to be a week of pedestrian news for the blog, starting today with a new strategy to keep peds moving next to SDOT’s Second Avenue downtown paving project.
Quick background: SDOT is involved in the walk through and next to construction zones in two ways. First, we coordinate all construction (public and private) that uses public streets and sidewalks. Watch for more information this week about the new approach we’re taking there. Second, some of the construction zones people encounter in their daily walks are ours. We know that a better pedestrian experience in all construction zones starts with good practice on our own projects.
With that in mind, our contractors are clarifying ped detours on Second Avenue between Stewart and Yesler streets. They’re using blue caution tape labeled “Pedestrian Path” to mark the walkway and standard yellow caution tape everywhere else. They’ve also placed traffic cones with blue “Pedestrian Detour” signs at the entrances to the detours. We’ve gotten good initial feedback from users and will continue to evaluate the approach. The tape and signs should be in place for the next two weeks, so check them out if you’re on Second Avenue.