If you’ve walked or driven through the intersection of 106th Avenue NE and NE 10th Street lately, you may have noticed something new underfoot. The City of Bellevue has installed four artist-designed crosswalks around the city — including one in downtown Bellevue — as part of a new pilot program called Creative Crosswalks.
Now the city wants to hear what residents, commuters and visitors think.
Where to find the new crosswalks
Each painted design was installed on one side of the following intersections:
- 106th Avenue NE and NE 10th Street (downtown)
- 124th Avenue NE and NE 8th Street
- 132nd Avenue NE and Bel-Red Road
- 164th Avenue NE and NE 24th Street
The downtown location sits just north of Bellevue’s core, near the NE 10th Street corridor that carries steady foot and vehicle traffic between downtown towers, residential buildings and the I-405 interchange.
Art as a traffic safety tool
The pilot is a joint effort between the city’s Transportation and Community Development departments. It’s designed to answer three questions: do painted crosswalks improve safety, are they practical to maintain, and does the community actually like them?
On the safety side, the city is looking at whether the bright, colorful designs help grab drivers’ attention and make pedestrians more visible — or whether they end up being a distraction instead…