Carol Longfellow's closet contains a variety of red coats, not because she's crazy for crimson, but to make her more visible to drivers when she attempts to cross busy Admiral Way.

Longfellow lives near Admiral Way and 48th Avenue Southwest. Been there 52 years. She volunteers regularly at nearby Life Care Center - West Seattle, where she leads crafts classes for the residents and pays for all of the class materials herself. Longfellow got involved at Life Care Center when her late husband was a patient there. The craft classes are held about three times a month.

Longfellow also attends weekly Sunday church services at Life Care Center.

The problem is Life Care Center is on the north side of Admiral Way and Longfellow lives south of the busy arterial street. That means she must cross Admiral Way on foot more than once a week. Longfellow, who is 80, has found that to be an increasingly dicey proposition. Just the other day a young motorist jammed on his brakes and gave Longfellow the finger as she walked across the busy street.

She's frustrated that many motorists don't yield the right of way to pedestrians crossing Admiral Way, having been nearly run over and then cursed or flipped off numerous times. Longfellow worries about not being able to get across Admiral Way faster than drivers who resent stopping for pedestrians anyway. She thinks there ought to be a public campaign to inform motorists that pedestrians possess the right of way at all intersections, whether there's a painted crosswalk or not.

It's gotten so bad Longfellow is considering giving up her volunteer work at the nursing home.

Currently there are marked crosswalks at 47th and 49th avenues southwest. Longfellow has been trying to convince the Seattle Department of Transportation of the need for a pedestrian-activated traffic signal at Admiral Way and 47th Avenue.

Longfellow also tried to convince the Seattle Department of Transportation to paint a crosswalk on Admiral Way at 48th Avenue Southwest. How much could the paint cost anyway? she asks. But people from the Transportation Department met with her and inspected the stretch of Admiral Way she's concerned about. They didn't see anything amiss, she said.

There is much uncertainty among traffic engineers nationwide as to the safety and effectiveness of crosswalks. A study of 400 intersections in San Diego showed there were more pedestrian collisions in intersections with painted crosswalks than in unmarked crosswalks. However the study was criticized for not studying streets with more than two lanes. Nor did the study differentiate between intersections with high and low traffic volumes.

Another study indicated fewer crashes occur in painted crosswalks than in unmarked ones.

However a study of "zebra" crossings (wide stripes painted in crosswalks) showed the rate of pedestrian crashes was twice as high in painted crosswalks as in unpainted crossings or those governed by traffic signals. Zebra-painted crosswalks also increased the number of tailgating crashes at intersections.

"In summary, there are no clear-cut results from the studies reviewed to permit concluding with confidence that either marked or unmarked crosswalks are safer," states the Federal Highway Administration on its website.

Seattle plans to remove 22 marked crosswalks around the city, three of which are on Admiral Way: at the western end of the West Seattle Bridge, at Hanford Street and at City View Street.

The repaving project currently underway on California Avenue Southwest in the Junction includes installation of raised "speed tables" on the two existing midblock crosswalks between Edmunds and Oregon streets. The Seattle Department of Transportation describes speed tables as "a gentler version of a speed bump."

A vote was taken at a public meeting and the majority of about 100 Junction residents expressed a preference for speed tables rather than midblock traffic signals.

Meanwhile Longfellow is greatly concerned. It's bad enough to worry over being clobbered by a car or truck, but she also is genuinely worried about the hostility she sees in many drivers when they have to stop or steer around her as she tries to cross Admiral Way.

"People have turned so hateful," she said. "They want to hit you. They want to scare you. It isn't that they don't see you. They don't care."

Tim St. Clair can be contacted at 932-0300 or tstclair@robinsonnews.com