Bellevue has added four pedestrian crossings featuring colorful floral and geometric patterns. The city launched the “Creative Crosswalks” project to determine whether more visible markings encourage drivers to slow down and help pedestrians feel safer. The artworks were installed at intersections with the highest numbers of vehicle and pedestrian crashes: 106th Avenue NE and NE 10th Street, 132nd Avenue NE and Bel-Red Road, 124th Avenue NE and NE 8th Street, and 164th Avenue NE and NE 24th Street.
At each intersection, only one crosswalk was decorated, while the others were left conventional to allow for comparisons. A 2022 study of 17 sites across the United States found that asphalt art reduced crashes involving pedestrians, bicyclists and other vulnerable road users by 50%, while total crashes fell by 17%. Bellevue’s roughly $250,000 project will also examine how easy the surfaces are to maintain and how residents respond to the new designs; the evaluation will continue through 2027.
The designs were created by regional artists Nikita Ares and Kenji Hamai Stoll. Ares’ work, installed at two crosswalks, uses six colors and draws inspiration from local children’s artwork, the Pacific Northwest landscape and her childhood in the Philippines. The images were printed on square thermoplastic sections, then melted and bonded to the asphalt. Bellevue studied projects in Seattle, Denver and Olympia; the project was funded in part by a federal grant and the city’s arts and culture support program.
Based on: Bellevue’s most dangerous intersections get a colorful upgrade