Dallas Avenue Traffic Calming

Department of Mobility

and Infrastructure

Katy Sawyer, P.E., Project Engineer

Craig Toocheck, Staff Engineer

August 1, 2018

South Dallas Ave characteristics:

• Focus area: Wilkins to Forbes

• 30 feet wide

• About 8,000 vehicles/day

• Speed limit 25 MPH

• Median speed ~37 MPH

• Parking lane on west side, minimally used

• Cemetery on east side

SAFE CROSSINGS Crosswalk Policy + Traffic Calming

• Elements like high-visibility crosswalks and pedestrian refuge islands can, under the right conditions, slow traffic speeds and make crossing the street safer and easier.

A concrete pedestrian refuge island provides a place to wait and slows traffic (New York City)

High-visibility crosswalks can improve yielding to pedestrians when speeds are slow.

SAFE CROSSINGS Permanent Refuge Island (Capital Construction)

A refuge island with plantings (Vancouver, BC) A refuge island with pedestrian crossing signs (Silver Spring, MD)

A high-visibility crosswalk and pedestrian refuge island, built using interim materials (Seattle, WA)

Trial pedestrian refuge islands built from rubber curbs and pedestrian crossing signs (Atchison, KS)

SAFE CROSSINGS Interim Refuge Islands

• Characteristics

• Extension of the curbline toward the centerline of the street

• Can be achieved via physical curb, paint, pavement removal or other techniques

• Typical use

• Appropriate on most street types

• Paired with crosswalks can narrow pedestrian crossing distance and improve visibility

• Considerations

• Street cleaning and snow removal

• Maintenance and cost

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BULBOUT/BUMPOUT Horizontal Control

INTERIM BULBOUT/BUMPOUT

• Painted curb extensions can be built quickly to test their efficacy, before building out in concrete.

Interim curb extensions using paint and flexposts (Seattle, WA)

• Characteristics

• Vertical edge to the street

• Gives a sense of enclosure naturally slowing travel speeds

• Typical use

• Any street type

• Considerations

• Can be accomplished with built structures or street trees

• The closer together vertical elements are, the more effective the traffic calming effect

• Trees take time to grow; large buildings are not appropriate in all contexts

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VERTICAL ENCLOSURE Visual Control

SAFE CROSSINGS Types of treatments by intersection

CEMETERY ENTRANCES

TYPICAL INTERSECTIONS

SAFE CROSSINS Crosswalk with interim refuge island