Cootes Drive at Sanders Boulevard Pedestrian and Cyclist Crossing
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October 2004 Table of contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................1 1.1 BACKGROUND.............................................................................................................1 1.2 STUDY AREA ...............................................................................................................1 1.3 STUDY OBJECTIVES .....................................................................................................1 1.4 DATA COLLECTION .....................................................................................................3 1.5 GLOSSARY...................................................................................................................3 2.0 FIELD INVESTIGATION...........................................................................................5 2.1 IDENTIFICATION OF POTENTIAL HAZARDS AND REMEDIAL MEASURES ......................5 2.2 CONFLICT ANALYSIS .................................................................................................15 3.0 OFFICE REVIEW......................................................................................................25 3.1 SPEED DATA ..............................................................................................................25 3.2 VEHICLE COUNTS ......................................................................................................27 3.3 PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE COUNTS..........................................................................27 3.4 GAP DATA .................................................................................................................28 3.5 COLLISION HISTORY..................................................................................................28 3.6 APPLICABLE WARRANTS ...........................................................................................30 4.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT ........................................................................................31 5.0 PROPOSED TREATMENTS....................................................................................34 5.1 TREATMENTS THAT ADDRESS HIGH PEDESTRIAN-CYCLIST CROSSING VOLUMES .....34 5.2 TREATMENTS THAT ADDRESS EXCESSIVE SPEED ......................................................38 5.3 TREATMENTS THAT ADDRESS UNSAFE PEDESTRIAN-BICYCLIST BEHAVIOUR...........41 6.0 EVALUATION OF TREATMENTS........................................................................43 7.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................46 7.1 CONCLUSIONS ...........................................................................................................46 7.2 RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................50 Synectics Transportation Consultants Inc. October 2004 List of exhibits Exhibit 1 – Location of study area Exhibit 2 – Site characteristics Exhibit 3A – Roadway and pathway facilities Exhibit 3B – Pathway facilities and signs Exhibit 3C – Signs (continued) Exhibit 3D – Pavement markings and accessibility issues Exhibit 4A – Conflict diagram Exhibit 4B – Results of conflict analysis Exhibit 4C – Results of conflict analysis (continued) Exhibit 4D – Results of conflict analysis (continued) Exhibit 5 – Speed data Exhibit 6 – Pedestrian and cyclist count data Exhibit 7 – Consequences of excessive speed Appendices Appendix A – Remedial measures Appendix B – Sight distance measurements Appendix C – Traffic conflict technique Appendix D – Speed and volume data Appendix E – Application of pedestrian traffic control warrants Appendix F – Explanation of scoring in short list matrix Synectics Transportation Consultants Inc. October 2004 Cootes Drive at Sanders Boulevard i Pedestrian and Cyclist Crossing Safety Review City of Hamilton EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The pedestrian/cyclist crossing of Cootes Drive at Sanders Boulevard has been in existence for many years. It is used heavily, primarily by students attending McMaster University, but is also used by local residents and is an important component of the City’s bike route system. Recently, the location has received attention regarding the safety of road users crossing at the study site. To that end, Synectics Transportation Consultants Inc. has been retained by the City of Hamilton to conduct a safety review of the pedestrian-cyclist crossing. The following are the objectives of this operation and safety review: • Review office data provided to Synectics by the Region of Hamilton, McMaster University and Pyramid Traffic, including vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle volume counts, and speed data; • Conduct a field safety assessment including a site visit, examination of design elements, and a Positive Guidance review and propose remedial measures to address any safety deficiencies encountered; • Identify causal factors that may contribute to future collisions; • Propose and evaluate countermeasures that may address the causal factors identified; and • Document the above findings in a report to City of Hamilton. Conflict analysis A conflict analysis was undertaken to obtain further insight into potential road user risk at the study site. This study involved the observation of all ‘near misses’ involving movements of pedestrians and bicyclists across Cootes Drive at the study site. A total of fifty-nine conflicts were observed. Recorded conflicts involving pedestrian and vehicles included situations where the pedestrian or group of pedestrians commenced their crossing during a gap in traffic that required an approaching vehicle or vehicles to either brake or swerve or the pedestrian needed to either retreat back to the curb or break into a run to avoid a collision. Traffic was free flowing on Cootes Drive with some platooning occurring. Motorists were driving in excess of the speed limit and generally did not adjust their speed when pedestrians were observed waiting to cross Cootes Drive. Pedestrian activity at the study site was significant and would generally peak at the beginning or ending of class times (thirty minutes past the hour). During these times, Synectics Transportation Consultants Inc. October 2004 Cootes Drive at Sanders Boulevard ii Pedestrian and Cyclist Crossing Safety Review City of Hamilton pedestrians would cross Cootes Drive in large groups (up to twenty pedestrians at a time). On McMaster Campus, it was noted that pedestrians dominate the internal campus road network. In all cases, vehicles yield to pedestrians. It is speculated that some pedestrians are taking this mindset with them as they cross at Cootes Drive, having the view that drivers should yield to them, which there is no legal obligation for motorists to do. Bicycle-vehicle conflicts were also observed. These were less common in occurrence, but were identified as higher severity. Similar to the pedestrian-vehicle conflicts, the bicyclist commenced their crossing during a gap in traffic that required an approaching vehicle or vehicles to either brake or swerve or the bicyclist needed to either retreat back to the curb or accelerate to avoid a collision. In each of the bicycle-vehicle conflicts, it appeared that the bicyclists misjudged the adequacy of the gap in traffic due to this fact. Speed data Speed data was collected at two locations: Station 1 (north of the Westaway Road overpass) and Station 2 (immediately north of the study site). Measured speeds were significantly above the posted speed limits. At Station 1, posted speed limit 80 km/h, the 85th percentile speeds in the northbound lanes were between 100 and 93 km/h and in the southbound lanes, between 90 and 87 km/h. At Station 2, the 85th percentile speeds in the northbound lanes were between 84 and 76 km/h, and between 75 and 73 km/h in the southbound lanes. Vehicle counts A total of 25,858 vehicles passed by the study site during the twenty-four hour period. The morning peak hour occurred between 7:45 – 8:45 am, (2,143 vehicles) and the afternoon peak hour occurred between 4:15 – 5:15 pm, (2,177 vehicles). The ATR count data also provided information on headway. During the peak traffic periods, the average headway between vehicles ranged from 3 – 10 seconds in the northbound lanes and 4 – 6 seconds in the southbound lanes. During peak traffic conditions, both pedestrians and bicyclists encounter vehicular traffic at the study site that requires them to wait for gaps prior to crossing Cootes Drive. During periods of heavy traffic, pedestrians and bicyclists are accepting shorter gaps to achieve their crossing. Synectics Transportation Consultants Inc. October 2004 Cootes Drive at Sanders Boulevard iii Pedestrian and Cyclist Crossing Safety Review City of Hamilton Pedestrian and bicycle counts During a count taken between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm, a total of 3,712 individuals were observed crossing at the study site. The observations were carried out