Seattle Department of Transportation engineers are planning to remove one pedestrian crosswalk on Northwest Market Street and add another.

Next spring, the department could remove traffic lanes on 24th Avenue Northwest as well.

The changes are part of $1.3 million in pedestrian safety improvements at 22 locations around Seattle. The city is making the changes in large part because of a 2002 federal study on pedestrian safety, which found that marked crosswalks without lights can in some cases be more dangerous to pedestrians than no crosswalk at all.

Megan Hoyt, a pedestrian safety engineer with the transportation department, told of the plan at the Ballard District Council meeting last week. She said the three projects include a pedestrian crosswalk light installed on Northwest Market Street near Barnes Avenue Northwest, and removal of a mid-block crosswalk on Northwest Market Street, between 24th and 26th Avenues Northwest. Hoyt said that crosswalk is an example of one unsafe to use without signalization and the volume of pedestrian traffic too low to warrant installation of a light. Both of the Northwest Market Street changes are proposed for this fall.

The third project is removal of traffic lanes on 24th Avenue Northwest between Northwest 56th Street and Northwest 65th Street. That plan calls for removing one lane of traffic in each direction along the corridor and adding bicycle lanes and a turn lane for automobiles. The process of removing lanes of traffic, referred to as a "road diet," is one of two options to improve pedestrian safety along the avenue. The other option would be removing the uncontrolled marked crosswalk on Northwest 58th Street.

Mary Hurley, president of the Ballard District Council, suggested that reconfiguring traffic lanes on 24th Avenue might be premature, given the current flux in the neighborhood because of development.

"We have several [housing development] projects on NW 24th Avenue with Metropole and NoMa and when QFC comes in. Let's put this off until the major construction is done," she said.

Hoyt said there was time to consider that option since the project wouldn't begin until after this coming winter. She said that because the projects will be done with city transportation road crews, the department would have greater scheduling flexibility than if outside contractors had to be hired. She also said the department would solicit community feedback on the plans.

"Especially the road diet. That's not something we're going to force down people's throats. But we also want to hear from people who think this is a good idea," Hoyt said.

Seattle Department of Transportation is having at open house regarding the three projects at the Ballard Public Library on October 17 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.