March editorial: Watch for childish behavior

My youngest stepped on pavement the same way he stepped on grass.

That is not good when the road is full of 2-ton cars and 4-ton construction trucks.

Transitioning into this danger zone with your head down and attention on pause can have parents seeing their toddler’s life flash before their eyes. However, Declan took this direct route when crossing the street for a couple of more years than his older siblings. The idea of looking both ways took longer to sink in the brain.

I must admit, if you throw an extra layer of transportation on a city street I can suddenly turn into my Kindergartner who kept the parent panic button pressed each time he approached a curb. It’s not every day you cross a street that also contains a set of tracks that are imbedded in the pavement, which makes it less obvious than traditional rail that has a more noticeable break.

I should never set foot on Seattle’s Martin Luther King Jr. Way, at least not today. The route contains a Sound Transit light-rail line blended in the pavement, and it has been the site of pedestrian and vehicle collisions ever since it was put into service. On average, every 45 days light-rail trains strike vehicles on the MLK corridor, and about 80% of collisions happen on the south end of the line. Most accidents are due to vehicles making unauthorized left turns across the tracks. Pedestrians have come into play as well. Since the line became active in 2009, nine people along the MLK have been killed, including a fatal accident involving a couple last July.
Seattle Councilmember Tammy Morales has asked Sound Transit to create a written plan on how the MLK route would be safer moving forward. Safety upgrades currently being discussed are separated at-grade sections of track, lowering train speeds, and adding pedestrian overpasses.
Sound Transit also made the announcement in late February that future projects will be aerial or tunnel guideways instead of running them at street level. The agency, however, added under some circumstances at-grade sections would be allowed.

I am curious about the factors that would come into play that would activate this agency discretion. Political pressure? Budget? Areas with no kids around? The chance to amend could only put the agency in a corner, and looking both ways does little when you are trapped. Sound Transit should stick to the one or other stance rather than adding
the asterisk.

Like Seattle, plenty of other cities across the U.S. have inserted rail into the pavement of city streets. Some have been higher on safety than others. Routes are protected by concrete barriers or come with signal arms that slide down in front of pedestrians as well as vehicles. However, there is no standard here. I am sure that officials love the sleek look of rail embedded in the street, but that look can often times turn invisible to the average person en route to his or her job or the local grocery store. Every rail route that cuts through an urban area should come with the proper safety measures.

I do not see this kind of harmony, and when it comes to safety there should only be one look. It certainly would make it easier for the kid in all of us.

Read more articles on track construction.