Roadway Cross-Section Reallocation: A Guide (2023) / Chapter Skim
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Chapter 5: Safety for everyone
Chapter 5: Safety for everyone
Pages 42-59
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From page 42... ...
In practice, distributor streets can be safely engineered for ranges from 20 mph to 35 mph, with greater separation between modes needed to maintain safety as design speeds increase. Distributor streets with operating speeds from 35 mph to 50 mph are common in U.S.
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From page 43... ...
. Curbside uses that may be practical on distributor streets include the following: • Public transportation stops, • Loading/unloading zones, • Micromobility docking stations and on-street bike and e-scooter parking corrals, What About Painted Bike Lanes?
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For the transportation professional, street design is the most powerful tool for achieving safety. Clear, intuitive alignment of street function and design through classification and speed management are fundamental pillars of a Safe System approach.
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When there is excess space, practitioners should consider options according to road classification (i.e., access streets and distributor streets)
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Safe, high-speed street designs must physically separate vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and bicyclists, from motor vehicles. As road speeds increase, the physical space or buffers needed between vulnerable users and motor vehicles necessarily increases.
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Additional Guidance on Aligning Road Speed with Land-Use Context • NCHRP Web-Only Document 320: Aligning Geometric Design with Roadway Context • NCHRP Synthesis 535: Pedestrian Safety Relative to Traffic-Speed Management • FHWA Self-Enforcing Roadways: A Guidance Report • FHWA Noteworthy Speed Management Practices • FDOT Design Manual, Section 200, Context Based Design, and Section 202, Speed Management • Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) Blueprint for Urban Design • Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)
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From page 48... ...
Reduce Motor Vehicle Volumes Higher motor vehicle volumes increase the degree of separation needed between motor vehicles and bicyclists on access and distributor streets. Practitioners can simultaneously reduce motor vehicle volumes and speeds on access streets through effective traffic-calming.
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Bicycle Facility Design Options. In circumstances where achieving a safe street design comes down to a difference of a few feet, a two-way bicycle facility can eke out the needed space.
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Excess Space Although practitioners frequently contend with limited space as a barrier to safe street design, overbuilt roads present unique challenges to achieving safety. Figure 6-4.
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The following sections outline different strategies for achieving safety along access and distributor streets. Access Streets Access streets connect users to activity centers and should have lower speeds and volumes than those of distributor streets.
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From page 52... ...
Such medians can also incorporate landscaping to provide stormwater management, beautification, and economic development benefits. Excess space on distributor streets can also be allocated as buffer space between bicyclists, pedestrians, and motorists (Figure 6-8)
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In many cases, transportation professionals have an easier time developing a safe street design than achieving stakeholder and user buy-in on the design. Chapter 4 of this report makes the case for consistent, equitable community engagement throughout the roadway reallocation process.
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6-10 Roadway Cross-Section Reallocation: A Guide Figure 6-8. Increasing buffers to reallocate excess space in the cross section.
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Concerns specific to business owners include being able to operate profitably and ease of access to the business by customers and suppliers. Elected decisionmakers will be interested in the concerns of the users of all travel modes along with those of residents and business owners.
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Early, Frequent, and Comprehensive Communication As outlined in Chapter 4, successful street redesign projects depend on a robust, equitable community engagement process. Ideally, practitioners will work closely with all relevant community groups, stakeholders, and decisionmakers to identify a need, develop a plan, and design and implement a street redesign.
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From page 57... ...
Commonly used screening-level tools that enable performance evaluation for street cross sections typically fail to address community concerns, offering instead a binary evaluation: either a given cross section and its existing street volume combination falls within "acceptable" bounds, or it does not. Evaluation tools also typically provide an average delay or travel time for the peak hour of the day (or peak 15 minutes)
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6-14 Roadway Cross-Section Reallocation: A Guide screening tools and introduces a performance method ("all-day operations") to account for the time-of-day effects of travel lane removal.
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From page 59... ...
Agencies that lack one or the other of these resources can struggle to implement safe redesign projects. However, the resources in this Guide, coupled with the use of temporary materials, can help practitioners achieve safe streets through a quick-build approach.
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