The Seattle Department of Transportation says "skinnying" up a portion of 24th Avenue Northwest could reduce the risk of crashes and increase traffic flow, making it safer for both drivers and pedestrians.

The city introduced a draft proposal in September that calls for removing one lane of traffic in each direction and adding bicycle lanes and a center turn lane on the arterial between Northwest 56th and 65th streets. On-street parking would remain.

The plan, referred to as a "road diet," is one of two options the city is considering to improve pedestrian safety along the avenue. Another option is to remove the uncontrolled marked crosswalk at Northwest 58th Street if a road diet is not implemented.

The changes are based on a 2002 federal study on pedestrian safety, which found that marked crosswalks without lights can be more dangerous to pedestrians than no crosswalk at all.

The uncontrolled, "high risk" crosswalk at 58th has been the driving factor for the proposal because it poses a "multiple lane threat," said Peter Lagerwey, supervisor of the city's bike and pedestrian safety program.

For example, pedestrians have hard times finding a gap in which to cross the street on four-lane roadways and reducing the number of traffic lanes they must cross is one way to make it safer, he said.

On a four-lane street, drivers change lanes to pass slower vehicles, such as those waiting to make a left turn or stopped for a pedestrian. When there are two lanes of travel, the lead vehicle controls driver's speeds and actions, said Wayne Wentz, a traffic manager for the transportation department.

A center turn lane would also improve motor vehicle access, said Wentz. A similar configuration is already in place on 24th, north of Northwest 65th Street.

Kevin Carrabine lives west of 24th and travels the road by foot or bicycle daily. He supports a road diet on the street because of the many "near death incidents" he's seen at the marked crosswalk caused by inattentive drivers going too fast and pedestrians with a false sense of security.

Reducing the street to one lane of travel in each direction would increase visibility and eliminate unexpected lane changes, said Carrabine, board member of the Sunset Hill Community Association and Friends of the Burke-Gilman Trail.

"Everything about it (road diet) says it's got to be safer," he said.

Five pedestrian accidents have occurred at that intersection in the last 10 years, according to the transportation department.

"That's more than we'd like to see," said Lagerwey. "But we don't believe there has to be a crash. We believe in being proactive."

Paul Nerdrum is the co-owner of Salmon Bay Sand and Gravel, a 98-year-old company on Shilshole Avenue at the Ship Canal. His employees use 24th to transport freight every day. A road diet, he said, would only slow them down.

"It will certainly impede us," said Nerdrum. "A road diet looks nice but not for the people who have to drive on it."

Nerdrum said he opposes the idea because it's part of a city strategy to try and force people out of their cars with "no viable alternative transit option" and "without recognizing the need to move goods and services."

Others in industry here have expressed similar concerns.

But road diets have been implemented in hundreds of cities across the country without significant setbacks to travel time, said Dan Burden, executive director of Walkable Communities, Inc., a non-profit aimed at helping neighborhoods become workable places for everyone, not just cars.

Generally, truck drivers prefer road diets because it makes lanes wider and provides a better turning radius when bike lanes are present, he said.

"They (industry leaders) may be expressing concern out of fear rather than knowledge," said Burden, a widely regarded expert on street corridor and intersection design and traffic management.

Burden co-authored an article with Lagerwey in 1999 entitled, "Road Diets: Fixing the big roads," in which they coined the phrase "road diet."

"(A road diet) may sound counterintuitive," Burden said, "but if you put on 25 pounds you won't be healthier - it's the same concept for a street."

Road diets shouldn't be used on streets with an average daily traffic of 20,000 or more because traffic congestion could increase to the point of diverting traffic to alternative routes, said Burden. With about 15,000 vehicles a day, 24th is primed for a diet, he said.

According to Burden's non-profit, traffic flow has increased by about 1,000 vehicles per day in areas of Seattle where road diets were implemented, including on 8th Avenue Northwest in 1994.

"Seattle was the first city in the country to start implementing road diets aggressively," said Burden, noting that Seattle has used the method more than any other city in the country.

Other road diet benefits include a 5 percent improvement in safety and up to an 80 percent reduction in crashes, Burden said.

But some think the city should move cautiously and wait to see how major developments in the area will impact pedestrian and traffic patterns.

The area around the intersection in question has been undergoing significant growth. QFC is in the process of renovating its store, adding five floors and 270 residential units. Metropole and NoMa condominiums on 57th and 24th, plus a new apartment building slated for the corner of 58th, will bring about 420 new residential units and thousands of square feet in retail space in the next few years.

Several more major mixed-use buildings are popping up all over downtown Ballard. Wentz said the city has considered that growth.

As urban villages like Ballard "become denser and internally vibrant, it's possible there will be no more growth in the amount of traffic on the road," said Wentz, noting that promoting the growth of urban villages in order to support walking and transit use, is one of the city's major goals.

"The number of vehicle trips goes down when there is better mixed use development," he said. "For example, people will walk to get their groceries rather than drive."

The proposal is part of $1.3 million in pedestrian safety improvements at several locations in Seattle.

In October, the city held a public meeting introducing the road diet proposal and took public comment through mid-November. If the project were to move forward it could begin as early as this spring.

More residents came out in support of a road diet than didn't, said Lagerwey. Some want the city to remove the crosswalk and study other solutions for pedestrian and traffic safety.

"We received a large variety of comments," said Lagerwey. "We want to make sure we have every concern with the existing and proposed conditions and do a good job listening to what the problems are, perceived and otherwise."

Rebekah Schilperoort can be reached at 783.1244 or rebekahs@ballardnewstribune.com