Whilden Street Traffic StudyAn analysis of 10 years (2004-2014) of traffic accidents occurring on Whilden Street between Coleman Boulevard and Venning Street

Scope

The information in this study is based on a collection of accident reports from the Mount Pleasant Police Department•Time frame: 2004-2014•Location: Along Whilden Street between Coleman Boulevard and Venning Street•Number of accident reports at intersections: 53•Number of accident reports in total: 71

There have been 53 car accidents in 10 years along Whilden

at the intersections between Coleman Blvd and Venning.

SOURCE: MOUNT PLEASANT POLICE DEPARTMENT

Distribution of accidents along Whilden

SOURCE: MOUNT PLEASANT POLICE DEPARTMENT

Whilden & Live Oak Drive20 accidents at this intersection between 2004-2014

Highest accident rate of the intersections in this study

Observations:•Relatively even distribution of accidents throughout week w/ Tuesday and Saturday being the highest and no strong time of day correlations •No night accidents•None on Friday•No accidents on Sunday morning (drastically different than next intersection)

Whilden and Hibben Street17 accidents occurred at this intersection between 2004-2014

2nd highest accident rate of the intersections in the study Highest injury rate

Observations:•Strong correlation with time of day and day of week•The majority (9) of these accidents happened in the morning•Most accidents occur on Friday afternoon and Sunday morning•Highest injury rate at this intersection (7 of 12)Question: More accidents happened at Whilden/Live Oak but more injuries happened here… are people picking up speed after they make turn at the light? Pedestrians?

Whilden & Venning16 accidents occurred at this intersection between 2004-2014

3rd highest accident rate for intersections in this study

Observations: •The majority of accidents occur in the morning•The majority of accidents occur on the weekends•There is a strong correlation with day of week and time of day on Sundays•No accidents have occurred between 10pm-4am•No injuries have occurred in this intersection

Injury: Location/Time of day

Observations:•The majority of injuries caused from an accident occur in the morning at the intersection of Hibben and Whilden •7 of the 12 injuries occurred during the morning •7 of the 12 injuries occurred at the intersection of Hibben and Whilden

Injury trend: Day of Week/Time of Day

Observations:•Injury rates are the lowest on Monday and Tuesday•Injury rates are the highest on Sunday morning which coincides with Church services•75% of the injuries on Sunday occur at the intersection of Hibben/Whilden

Overview: Day of Week/Location Correlation

Summary: •Whilden/Hibben on Sunday has the highest rate of injury.

•Whilden/Hibben on Friday(afternoon) has the highest rate of accidents.

•Whilden/Live Oak on Tuesday and Saturday has the second highest rate of accidents.

Remaining Questions…

Why aren’t the number of accidents directly correlated with injury? •Speed? Perhaps cars accelerate after Live Oak causing Whilden/Hibben to be more dangerous?•Line of sight? Perhaps there is a hindrance in seeing oncoming traffic at Hibben/Whilden?•Signage? Perhaps drivers don’t realize it is a two-way stop instead of 4 way•Design?

Lane Width = 12’

Design Speed: 70 MPH

Lane 8’9”

Gutter 2’6”

Verge 4’4”

Sidewalk 4’8”

Lane 15’2”

Gutter 2’6”

Sidewalk 4’6”

No Landscaped Median!

Sidewalk 4’

Lane 20’6”

No Landscaped Median!

Lane 20’6”

Sidewalk 4’

Lane 11’

Verge 16’

Remaining Questions• Why are travel lanes at the entrance to the Old Village more than

20% (3’) wider than a standard 12' wide interstate highway lane?

• Do wider lanes invite drivers to increase speed?

• If wider lanes invite drivers to increase speed, does this increase in speed make the street less safe for pedestrians and bicyclists?

• Would it make sense to redesign the street by converting what is currently asphalt into landscaped medians, sidewalks or some type of traffic calming measure at this important gateway to what is otherwise one of the most pedestrian and bicycle friendly areas of Mt. Pleasant?

Did you know?• “At 20 mph, the risk of death to a person on foot struck by the

driver of a vehicle is 6 percent. At 30 mph, that risk of death is three times greater.”

• “Small towns and rural areas…often have more fast-moving, wide arterial streets than larger urbanized areas. The design of arterials in both urban and rural areas often leaves out the sidewalks and street crossings that are vital to safe pedestrian travel.”• Tefft, B. (2013). Impact Speed and a Pedestrian’s Risk of Severe Injury or Death. Accident Analysis

and Prevention, 50, 871-878.

Should the Old Village be a land-based version of a “No Wake Zone”?

If so, Whilden Street between Coleman and Venning is an ideal place to alert the public toward that end.

What can be done?Meet and discuss: Generally, designing for safe, walkable communities begins with understanding how people use— and want to use—streets and public spaces to access destinations. •With these principles set, transportation planners and engineers can select from a large set of nationally used appropriate design elements, including but not limited to:

• Widened sidewalks• Raised crosswalks• Speed tables• Curb extensions• Midblock crossings • Narrow travel lanes• Planting street trees• Smaller curb radii

http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/documents/dangerous-by-design-2014/dangerous-by-design-2014.pdf

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Some examples of Traffic calming measures: Speed Table

Charleston International Airport- Speed Table

Angled parking

Parked cars provide additional safety and comfort for pedestrians using the sidewalks and help to further slow traffic.- Chuck Marohn, Strong Towns

Parallel Parking

Curb extensions

The existing 20’ (+/-) driving lanes are larger in dimension to those found on interstate highways. “This gives drivers in a quiet, residential neighborhood a false sense of comfort and, in doing so, induces dangerously high speeds. Narrowing these lanes will improve, not impair, the safe flow of traffic at neighborhood speeds.”-Charles Mahron Strong Towns Study

Bumpouts

Bumpouts

Raised crosswalk, speed table, parallel parking, curb extension

“An important opportunity area”

Source: Fig. 7, Coleman Boulevard Revitalization Master Plan

Will anyone listen?

Whatever the answer may be… the conditions are right to do something about it:

•“Every transportation agency, including DOT, has the responsibility to improve conditions and opportunities for walking and bicycling and to integrate walking and bicycling into their transportation systems.” – U.S. DOT Policy Statement on Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation Regulations and Recommendations (March, 2010)

Sources• Chuck Mahron, Strong Towns Brainerd Study:

https://static.squarespace.com/static/53dd6676e4b0fedfbc26ea91/53ddcd89e4b003f5882015c4/53ddcd89e4b003f5882015c6/1383603482037/Neighborhoods%20First%20Report.pdf

• http://www.tompsc.com/TOMPSC GIS• Mount Pleasant Police Department:Traffic Accident Reports

2004-2014• U.S. DOT Policy Statement on Bicycle and Pedestrian

Accommodation Regulations and Recommendations • http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/documents/dangerous-by-design-201

4/dangerous-by-design-2014.pdf page 25