Cycling and Pedestrian Infrastructure in the State College Community
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2017 Cycling and Pedestrian Infrastructure in the State College Community Issues Addressed: 1. Lack of Sidewalks 2. Roads Surrounding Penn- State Campus 3. Fox Road Bike Lane Alexander Yaskolko English138, Kyle King 4/14/2017 Yaskolko 1 Importance of Pedestrian and Cycling Infrastructure As defined by the U.S. Department of Transportation, pedestrian and cycling infrastructure is a network of infrastructure that makes walking and/or cycling more viable modes of transportation. It is important to make the distinction between this definition and the idea of making cycling and walking safer. Because if one goes with the latter idea of pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, then instead of making cycling and walking more viable the end result might make cycling and walking safer at the cost of viability. The infrastructure put in place might restrict cycling and walking to make the options safer, rather than to provide a viable safer alternative. The question arises: Why do people need their tax dollars to go towards pedestrian and cycling infrastructure? There are many answers to this question. Development of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure consequently increases the number of people using cycling and walking as transportation. As a result, there are fewer people on the road to create congestion and to pollute the air. Whether one believes in global warming or not, people can at least agree that air quality is affected by car emissions. So either way, such infrastructure contributes positively to the environment. Cycling and pedestrian infrastructure also provides people with a healthy option for transportation and daily leisurely activity. For those who already ride a bicycle or walk regularly, such infrastructure greatly increases safety and opportunity to expand such activities. There are also economic benefits to cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. Bike infrastructure helps business in an area, including reaching out to the audience that wouldn’t previously be able to get to the business before the implemented infrastructure. Also, Yaskolko 2 according to the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, there is a significant contribution to jobs, both directly and indirectly. Below there is a list (left) of all the jobs both directly created, indirectly created, and induced through the creation/expansion of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. There is also a table (right) that shows how many jobs (direct jobs, indirect jobs, induced jobs, and total jobs) were created per $1 million of various types of infrastructure. It also summarizes the average for all projects and total jobs per $1 million from that average. Jobs Created in Madison, Wisconsin per million dollars of expansion of various cycling and pedestrian infrastructure. The Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Table of Top 20 Industry Jobs Created by Pedestrian and Cycling Infrastructure. The Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts It is would be especially beneficial to have cycling and pedestrian infrastructure in State College because of the popularity of cycling and walking among both college students and faculty/professors. The need for an expansion of this infrastructure. when one takes a look at Yaskolko 3 the current state of it. The main issues include lack of sidewalks, common dangerous roads, and unprotected bike lanes. Sidewalks in State College According to the Federal Highway Administration, 8% of annual pedestrian deaths happen when pedestrians walk on the roadway and 88% of those deaths and could be prevented via implementation of sidewalks in those areas. The absence of sidewalks also hurts the community by preventing interactions that would typically happen in a healthy community, such as holiday-related interactions, everyday conversations, children interactions, and etc. In general, the sidewalks provide the benefits of cycling and pedestrian infrastructure that have been stated earlier. Although, according to a study conducted by the Transportation Commission of the Borough of State College, the highly populated areas, such as Atherton St. and Beaver Ave., and where most pedestrian incidents do occur have sidewalks, areas in North State College and scattered sidewalk lacking streets in State College both are an extreme risk to pedestrian safety and a heavy limitation to pedestrians. Waddle Rd and various surrounding roads are extreme examples of this. For many people in that area, the Walmart is just a 10-minute or 15-minute walk away. However, most of those people end up driving there. There is no guarantee of causation. But improving the pedestrian infrastructure, specifically by adding sidewalk in the areas that are currently void of them, should improve the current situation if the results of such improvements in other cities/towns are any indication. Below is a graphic, based off of a survey that was given to 100 people who walked into Walmart on a Sunday, that shows the Yaskolko 4 proportions of how many people cycle, how many people walk, and how many people drive to Walmart from various distance ranges. WALMART 4 Pie Charts Showing the Proportions of Mode of Transportation to Walmart from roughly 0.00-0.25 mile radius, 0.25-0.50 mile radius, 0.50-0.75 mile radius, and .75-1.0 mile radius. Survey conducted by student at Pennsylvania State University, Alexander Yaskolko. As can be seen from the graphic, even from very close distances people in State College prefer to drive to Walmart rather than to walk or cycle there. It should be noted, that cycling is difficult to consider in this situation, as it is not an effective mode of transportation for grocery transport. However, the pedestrian to driving ratio is way smaller than it should be. It is quite likely that the people who live around the Walmart are discouraged by the lack of sidewalk and Yaskolko 5 pedestrian infrastructure from walking to get their groceries and running various errands in the area. There is no simple solution to this issue, as to make more sidewalk road needs to be expanded into private property. And not surprisingly, not everyone is ready to allow this such an expansion into their property. It is fair to say, at this point, that the issue is worth negotiating with people who are opposed to the expansion. They are part of the community and probably want what’s best for the community as well. If not, compensation and tax breaks can be offered. However, that’s not the only issue. According to Public Works Director, Brent Brubaker, this issue is being addressed as part of a bigger project to expand Waddle Rd to be a 3-lane road. While this huge project is being planned, the risk to pedestrians, who walk along Waddle Rd, remains. This issue of risk to human lives should be a priority and addressed as soon as possible. At least that’s the opinion of the community member, Eric Wendoloski, who said that it isn’t safe to walk or ride on Waddle Rd, especially at night. He also states that he and probably many members of the surrounding community would appreciate a sidewalk on Waddle Rd. The Danger of Big Roads around Penn State Cycling and walking are very popular modes of transportation around the Penn State campus for students and faculty, as keeping dealing with a car on campus is a pretty big hassle. And many of these walkers and cyclists have suffered because of their choice of transportation for such dangerous roads: Atherton St., Beaver Ave., College Ave., and Park Ave. Yaskolko 6 Incidents on South Atherton St. and College Ave. compose the majority of cycling and pedestrian traffic incidents, according to a Comprehensive Cycling Pedestrian Safety Study done by the Transportation Commission of the Borough of State College. The study also provides the table on the left shows the danger scores, based on a complex algorithm, for various intersections around Penn State campus and residential areas near campus. It’s no surprise that the main streets listed don’t have lack pedestrian and especially cycling infrastructure. Some of the intersections on the main streets lack crosswalks. There are also no bike lanes or even shared road markers on any of the main streets. There is even a lack of signs to raise drivers’ awareness of pedestrians and cyclists on the road. Basically every year either a pedestrian or a cyclist dies in a traffic incident on South Atherton St. Most of these accidents happen on Atherton St. This street is one of the most direct routes for people to commute to and from school every day. At the same time, it is the most dangerous route. A cycling lane on each of the streets would be extremely helpful for stopping these deaths from occurring. It is possible to kill two birds with one stone by implementing a protected walk and bike lane on Atherton St. At minimum, signs and painted cyclists (bike- friendly road markers) on the road should be put in place to make cars more aware of cyclists. Yaskolko 7 Crosswalks with pedestrian crossing signs along Atherton St. and Park Ave. would be a great start in terms of pedestrian infrastructure. Protected Bike Lane- Fox Hollow Road Fox Hollow Rd. is a road that goes from the Northeast corner of Penn State’s Campus to residential areas and apartments up North. It has a bike lane that runs from slightly south of Beaver Stadium and all the way up until the road curves east away from State College. The bike lane is extremely useful for those who live in places like Toftrees Apartments or The View Apartments. However, there is one main issue; the fairly narrow bike lane runs right along the road which is also very narrow. The speed limit is 35 miles per hour, which is already decently fast.