As Memorial Day weekend approaches and Seattle prepares to cut the ribbon on their newly renovated Streetscape in the 100 block of Pike, they appear to be forgetting one important detail — pedestrian safety.

We have been requesting for years that the alley traffic between  1st and 2nd Avenues (it’s called News Lane) be designated one-way. News Lane was identified in a traffic study conducted by the University of Washington, in collaboration with the City of Seattle, as the busiest alley in the downtown core. It is too narrow for commercial vehicles to pass going opposite directions. When vehicles enter the unmarked alley heading southbound, they frequently find themselves with no alternative except to back out.

It is illegal to back over a sidewalk in Seattle without flaggers to aide the driver and warn pedestrians and keep them safe.

All existing loading berths in the Target alley require drivers to enter from Union Street northbound. This allows them the best visibility of pedestrian and vehicle traffic as they enter onto Pike Street.

Seattle is investing millions to reconstruct the Pike Pine corridor to enhance the trip from Capital Hill through Pike Place Market and on down to the Waterfront. Let’s not ruin all that work by skimping on adding a few aluminum “one-way” and “do not enter” signs.

Please sign this petition if you care about traffic safety for the thousands of pedestrians, cyclists, scooters, skaters, and motorists who pass through this single block of Seattle every day. Write to Seattle’s Mayor Harrell at Bruce.Harrell@seattle.gov and to the Director of Seattle Dept of Transportation (Greg.Spotts@seattle.gov). Ask them to stop commercial vehicles from backing onto Pike. Forethought saves lives! Let’s do this right.