Sometimes the fear of asking and being rejected is worth overcoming. We have a downhill on a 2 lane road "Industrial", that riders have to navigate from North to South in order to cross under US36 to get safely to business park, Interlocken.
With a highly active mall, we often get drivers who do not realize there is a bike route there. A couple of us asked the city for "bike crossing" signs and the request was just approved today.
Look forward to seeing the new signs. May not help a lot, but every little bit does help.