f Urb y o an it a CITY OF C URBANA URBANA
URBANA BICYCLE Bicycle Bicycle Bicycle 4 min 4 min 4 min Wayfinding Wayfinding Wayfinding WAYFINDING Plan Plan Plan PLAN
JULY 2020 This page was purposefully left blank. This report was prepared with funding from the City of Urbana by staff from the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission. f Urb y o an it a CITY OF C URBANA URBANA
URBANA BICYCLE Bicycle Bicycle Bicycle 4 min 4 min 4 min Wayfinding Wayfinding Wayfinding WAYFINDING Plan Plan Plan PLAN
PLAN FUNDED BY & PREPARED FOR City of Urbana PLAN PREPARED BY The Champaign-Urbana Urbanized Area Transportation Study (CUUATS), a program of: Champaign County Regional Planning Commission 1776 East Washington Street Urbana, Illinois 61802 Tel: (217) 328-3313 Fax: (217) 328-2426 Website: http://www.ccrpc.org
All photos belong to CCRPC unless otherwise credited. MAYOR Diane Marlin CITY COUNCIL Maryalice Wu, Ward 1 Eric Jakobsson, Ward 2 Shirese Hursey, Ward 3 Bill Brown, Ward 4 Dennis Roberts, Ward 5 William Colbrook, Ward 6 Jared Miller, Ward 7 BICYCLE & PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY COMMISSION (BPAC) Annie Adams Bill Brown Leonardo Covis Kara Dudek Cynthia Hoyle Audrey Ishii Susan Jones Jeff Marino Sarthak Prasad Nancy Westcott STAFF City of Urbana Craig Shonkwiler, Assistant City Engineer (former) Shannon Beranek, Engineer Champaign County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) Rita Morocoima-Black, Planning & Community Development Director Gabriel Lewis, AICP, Transportation Planner Mariane Shen Yin Lin, Transportation Intern (former) STEERING COMMITTEE Marcus Ricci, AICP, City of Urbana Planning Cynthia Hoyle, FAICP, City of Urbana BPAC Kara Dudek, AICP, Urbana Park District Stacey DeLorenzo, University of Illinois Evan Alvarez, Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District Steve Hankel, Champaign County Bikes TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Plan Foundation 1 1.2 Plan Purpose 1 1.3 Policy Framework 2 1.4 Study Area 2 1.5 Steering Committee 2 1.6 Wayfinding Benefits 2 1.7 Bicycle Wayfinding Principles 4 1.8 Urbana Green Loop 4 2. PEER AREA COMPARISONS 6
2.1 Study Area 6 2.2 Primary Cities & Counties Reviewed 7 2.3 Secondary Cities Considered 12 3. EXISTING SIGNS & DESTINATIONS 26
3.1 Existing Signs 26 3.2 Bicycle Destinations 26 4. PUBLIC INPUT 39
4.1 Input Opportunities 39 4.2 Sign Design Votes 39 4.3 Corridor Naming 43 4.4 Corridor Prioritization 43 4.5 Other Comments 43 5. SIGN DESIGNS & PLACEMENT 44
5.1 Bikeway Designations 44 5.2 Bikeway Naming 44 5.3 Sign Design 45 5.4 Sign Placement 63 5.5 Sign Assembly 67 5.6 Prioritization Criteria 69 6. IMPLEMENTATION 75
6.1 Sign Quantity Estimates 75 6.2 Funding Sources 83
APPENDIX A: PUBLIC INPUT REPORT
APPENDIX B: ROUTE SIGN DETAILS This page was purposefully left blank.
URBANA BICYCLE WAYFINDING PLAN | Introduction
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to improve bicycling in Urbana. This plan aims !
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Use California Avenue via Urbana Avenue to access points east of Vine Street along! the Illinois Street corridor, since Illinois Street
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the number of bicyclists by targeting casual • Grove Street-Urbana Avenue: Bike Route with wayfinding signage! . !
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• Destinations & Intersecting Bikeways: Anderson Street (EB), Downtown (WB)!
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• California Avenue-Illinois Street: Bike Route with wayfinding signage. ! recommendations of this plan will enhance • Destinations & Intersecting Bikeways: Downtown (NB), Urbana City Building (NB), Anderson! Street (SB)
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Thirteen major recommendations were ! Figure 162 ! CaliforniaDowntown Avenue
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! Other major UBMP recommendations that can ! Figure 163 be accomplished in this bicycle wayfinding plan CaliforniaDowntown Avenue 0.1 at Existing View (2007) Future View UrbanaLincoln Avneue Square 0.2 include: 231 Figure 1-1 Urbana Bicycle Master Plan bike 1. Improve safety and continuity of existing wayfinding sign renderings bikeways and routes. 2. Enhance Safe Routes to Schools by installing bike routes near the following schools: Dr. Williams Elementary, Leal Elementary, Thomas Paine Elementary, Yankee Ridge Elementary, Urbana Middle School, and Urbana High School. An investment in sign installation by the City of 3. Establish the Urbana Green Loop trail (See Urbana could see a major increase in bicycling, “Urbana Green Loop”), to connect all of as distance signage will inform people about how Urbana’s parks, in concert with the Urbana close they are to destinations and intersecting Park District Trails Master Plan. bikeways. 4. Install bikeways to improve bike access in low-income neighborhoods, especially in 1.2 PLAN PURPOSE areas where bicycles may be a primary form The City of Urbana Bicycle Wayfinding Plan of transportation for people. intends to facilitate bicycle navigation to riders’ 5. Install bikeways to improve bike access to destinations while conveying the community’s employers, especially major employers. identity and encouraging people to ride.
1 URBANA BICYCLE WAYFINDING PLAN | Introduction
1.3 POLICY FRAMEWORK 1.6 WAYFINDING BENEFITS Developing and implementing the bicycle Following are several benefits of installing wayfinding program is a reflection of several of bicycle wayfinding signage based on theUrban the 2014-2017 Urbana City Council and Mayor Bikeway Design Guide developed by the National Goals when this project began in late 2017. Association of City Transportation Officials The Transportation and Connectivity goal “... (NACTO). encourages the development of multiple modes of transportation and transportation centers, • Familiarizes users with the bicycle network including automobile, bus, pedestrian, bicycle, • Identifies the best routes to destinations train, rapid rail and airplane, which encourage • Overcomes a “barrier to entry” for infrequent convenience, fuel conservation and energy bicyclists efficiency to speed residents between home, work, school, shopping and entertainment • Signage that includes mileage to destinations destinations throughout the city and beyond.” may help minimize the tendency to The Environmental Sustainability goal encourages overestimate the amount of time it takes to making Urbana “more pedestrian and bicycle travel by bicycle friendly.” Finally, the Quality of Life goal • Visually indicates to motorists that they recommends “taking the steps necessary to are driving along a bikeway and should use ensure a high quality of life for its residents.” caution • Passively markets the bicycle network by 1.4 STUDY AREA providing unique and consistent imagery throughout the City of Urbana The study area for this plan includes the greater Urbana area. It is roughly bounded by Olympian These benefits should be particularly attractive Road and Oaks Road on the north, High Cross to the 60% of the population that is “Interested Road/IL 130 on the east, Curtis Road and but Concerned” about bicycling1. This is the Windsor Road on the south, and Wright Street target audience of the UBMP, which aims to and the Canadian National Railroad on the west increase the number of bicyclists in Urbana. (see Map 1-1). It includes all areas within the Installing bicycle wayfinding signage in Urbana City of Urbana’s municipal limits. The study area can help realize this goal. expands beyond municipal limits to consider bikeway connectivity in adjacent developed areas and areas planned for development.
1.5 STEERING COMMITTEE This plan’s steering committee was composed of representatives from the City of Urbana, Urbana Park District, University of Illinois, Champaign- Urbana Mass Transit District (CUMTD), and Champaign County Bikes (CCB). The committee guided CCRPC staff in plan development and decision-making.
1 Dill, Jennifer, and Nathan McNeil. “Four Types of Cyclists?” Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board 2387.1 (2013): 129-138.
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Urbana Bicycle Wayfinding lan Study Area & Neighborhoods Map
Olympian Rd 1900N Willow Rd Willow W Oaks Rd E Oaks Rd 1850N
1825N
Airport Rd N High CrossHigh N Rd
Brownfield Rd N CottonwoodRd N
Perkins Rd Perkins Rd 1650N
E Anthony Dr N Lincoln Ave Lincoln N
Springfield Ave E Main St W Green St N Vine St
E Washington St Legend 1550N
S Cottage Grove Ave Grove Cottage S Neighborhoods North Urbana
E Florida Ave Northeast Urbana Crystal ake ing ark
University District S Vine St Vine S S Lincoln Ave Lincoln S West & Downtown Urbana Central Urbana East Urbana South Urbana
S Cottonwood Rd Cottonwood S 1400N W Windsor Rd E Windsor Rd E isting ff-Street rail
Philo Rd Philo E isting n-Street Bikeway
Roads S Race St S Interstates Railroads Railyard Strea s W Curtis Rd E Curtis Rd Water pen Spaces Study Area City of Urbana 00.25 0.5 1 City of Cha paign ¯ Miles
Map 1-1 Study Area
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1.7 BICYCLE WAYFINDING 1.8 URBANA GREEN LOOP PRINCIPLES A signature recommendation of the UBMP and the 2016 Urbana Park District Trails Master Plan Alta Planning + Design recommends following (UTMP) is the establishment of the Urbana Green these six principles2 to create a good bicycle Loop trail. The Urbana Green Loop is intended wayfinding system that encourages people to bike: to connect Urbana neighborhoods, Downtown 1. Connect Places: See “Existing Signs & Urbana, and the University of Illinois to all Urbana Destinations” for a list of Urbana area Park District parks and facilities. It is intended to destinations where bicyclists are likely to travel. be a family-friendly path, available to users of all ages and abilities, and inviting to both residents 2. Promote Active Travel: The presence of and visitors to explore Urbana. wayfinding signs can communicate that bicycling to destinations is possible. The Urbana Green Loop includes both existing 3. Maintain Motion: Effective wayfinding allows (shown in solid lines) and recommended (shown bicyclists to navigate while maintaining their in dashed lines) facilities (see Map 1-2). The map state of motion, avoiding the frustration shows a number of on-street connections as part and discouragement of stopping to check of the loop. These connections were identified directions and restarting their ride. as key links between parks, trails and recreational facilities. 4. Be Predictable: Predictable information creates patterns that allow bicyclists to On-street connections are necessary for the understand new situations quickly and to rely Urbana Green Loop because they are the only on the system to provide needed information. feasible, cost-effective and/or direct routes 5. Keep Information Simple: Clear and logical between parks. Therefore, the Urbana Green Loop sign information and placement is vital to will be incorporated in on-street and off-street enable bicyclists to process information in bicycle wayfinding signage in Urbana. manageable amounts. 6. Make Signage Accessible: Wayfinding signage should be accessible and be designed to be comprehensible by a wide range of users, including people of all ages and abilities.
2 Alta Planning + Design. Six Wayfinding Principles that Make Communities Easier to Navigate. 2 October 2017. https:// blog.altaplanning.com/six-wayfinding-principles-that-make- communities-easier-to-navigate-bc74a067d109.
4 URBANA BICYCLE WAYFINDING PLAN | Introduction