Achieving
Focus Retrofitting
Roadways The Traffic
Calming
Toolbox Developing a
Pedestrian Safety Action Plan
On the Streets
Did you Know?
Premiering
Traffic Logix Tidbits
It
may seem superfluous to say that the first step toward pedestrian and
bicyclist safety is awareness. However, roadways are often created with
the goal of moving vehicular traffic smoothly and efficiently, and may
lack sidewalks, walkways, and adequate shoulder space. In fact,
Transportation for
America’s
Dangerous
by Design
report on pedestrian fatalities found that more than half of the
pedestrians killed between 2000 and 2009 died on principal or minor
arterials, wide, straight roads, which are often hostile to
pedestrians. It therefore bears repeating, that the first and most
crucial step toward pedestrian and bicyclist safety is being aware of non-motorist needs
and ensuring that they are factored into street design and engineering.
On the Streets
Retrofitting Roadways
An
advocacy group in Austin works to make East Austin more pedestrian
friendly with a Walkability Assessment program. Read the full story here.
It
can be difficult to integrate pedestrian travel allowances on roads built primarily with cars
in mind. As cities identify the importance of streets for
all, new roads should be constructed with awareness of pedestrian and bicyclist
needs as part of the design.
However, hope is not lost for
existing streets. There are many solutions that can be integrated to facilitate roadways that are
friendly to motorists and non-motorists alike.
The CDC (Center for Disease Control) in a study on Reducing Childhood
Pedestrian Injuries identifies some of these solutions such as
establishing traffic signals in hazardous areas, implementing traffic
calming measures such as street
narrowing or speed
humps,
and increasing the walk time of pedestrian signals to allow enough time
for children to safely cross. Other useful ideas include reducing lanes
on arterial roads while adding walkways or bike
lanes, establishing pedestrian malls, and improving lighting
on neighborhood streets.
Premiering
Fake
bike lanes
spray painted on Dallas streets try making a statement but are
confusing drivers and may be dangerous. See video footage here.
The Traffic
Calming Toolbox
Traffic
Logix prides itself on being a one stop provider for all traffic
calming needs. Several of the company’s products can help
create safer, smarter
streets for bicyclists and pedestrians. The 2-sided
Did you Know?
CycleLane
curbing offers a valuable
tool for traffic engineers looking to create more complete streets.
The innovative curbing solution has a low profile side, which guides
bicyclists back into bike
lanes while the high profile side prevents vehicle traffic
from entering non-vehicle lanes. The curbing units can be used along
with safe-hit posts
and/or painted buffer areas to
further increase visibility for motorists. They can be useful on
roadways as well as in parks, along trails, and anywhere that
bicyclists ride.
See a map showing the fatalities
from 2000 to 2009 within 60 miles of where you live. View the
interactive map here.
The SuperFlex
curbing units can also be a useful tool in
designing street narrowing or other curb-focused solutions to make
existing roadways
safer. Vehicle-focused solutions such as speed
humps, speed
cushions (shown to the right), and radar
feedback signs slow traffic down so that drivers are more
aware of their
surroundings and more likely to take notice of non-motorists. These
devices
also ensure that a driver has enough time to stop to avoid hitting a
pedestrian.
Developing a Pedestrian Safety
Action Plan
Cities
across the country that
were identified as having the highest risk of pedestrian fatalities
were chosen as focus cities in a FHWA program working to reduce
pedestrian deaths. States with focus cities were included as focus
states. Services offered include free
technical assistance, webinars, training, and assistance in developing
a Pedestrian Safety Plan.
Non-focus cities and states can receive these services for a cost. The
guide to developing a plan is a valuable resource for improved safety
and is available on the FHWA
website. An article on the progress made so far by
focus cities was published by Public Works magazine and is available
online here. The
program has so far shown promising results.
Traffic Logix Tidbits
Traffic
Logix rubber
speed cushions provide the perfect balance for Anaheim, CA.
Read the full story here.
