Complete Streets Report: Breaking Through Barriers for Non-Motorized
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Completesummer 2013 StreetsReport iers for Non-Motorized rr tion Users a orta Br B sp ea h n kin g ra g Throu T Prepared In-House by Staff of the State of Connecticut Department of Transportation 2800 Berlin Turnpike P.O. Box 317546 Newington, CT 06131-7546 In Cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration Web Site Address www.ct.gov/dot/completestreets Contents Message from the Commissioner 1 A Year in Review 3 Achievements 3 Real World Application 3 Progressive Steps 3 Complete Streets Strategies 5 Design, Maintenance, and Infrastructure 6 Design Considerations 6 Internal Task Force 6 Training Events 7 Bicycle and Pedestrian Travel Needs Assessment Form 8 Sidewalk Policy 10 Eleven-Foot Travel Lanes 12 Cyclist Friendly Amenities for Transit Riders 14 ADA Upgrades at Signalized Intersections 16 Project Highlights 18 East Coast Greenway (ECG) Signage 18 East Hartford “Road Diet” 20 Putnam Bridge Access across the Connecticut River 24 CTfastrak 26 Feasibility Study for a Merritt Parkway Trail 30 Addressing Stratford Sidewalks 34 Alternative Systems 36 Programmatic Successes 40 Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) Program 40 Share the Road Campaign 42 Improving Bicycle and Pedestrian Access 44 Addressing Gaps in the State Network of Multi-Use Trails 46 Assistance with Local and Regional Priorities 50 Looking Ahead 51 What’s Next 51 Challenges Yet to Face 51 Exciting News! Dear Non-Motorized Transportation Enthusiasts, It is with great pleasure that I share with you the Department of Transportation’s first-ever report on Complete Streets. We are proud to be part of this evolving movement of transportation system planning, design and engineering. This is a national effort to reconnect ourselves and our communities through healthier, more active living. Non-motorized transportation facilities are just a small component in this effort but an important foundation. We thank all of our partners and non-motorized transportation advocates for their assistance, support, and shared knowledge as well as their continued perseverance. Their efforts to identify problem areas and work with community business and government leaders, regional planners and State agency staff toward prudent, reasonable solutions are much appreciated. Striving to provide a safe and efficient intermodal transportation network that improves the quality of life and promotes economic vitality for the State and the region remains our agency mission. Initiatives that are in line with the Complete Streets concept will help to achieve these goals and break through barriers to non-motorized transportation. We recognize that, as an agency and a society, we have been motor vehicle centric for decades in our business practices, infrastructure and thinking. As such, it will take a concerted effort to realize a widespread system of Complete Streets in Connecticut. To do this, the Department, with our many partners, will continue to build on our past achievements, make progressive steps that prioritize Complete Streets and apply what we learn to the real world. Happy reading. Sincerely, James Redeker Commissioner Message from the Commissioner 2 A Year in Review 3 Achievements Real World Application The Department achieved the following in the past The Department applied Complete Streets concepts year… through its work to advance several initiatives… J spent greater than one percent on projects J Reduced Travel Lanes Widths for containing items that improve accessibility for Increased Shoulder Widths; pedestrians and cyclists in compliance with J ADA Upgrades at Signalized Intersections; Public Act 09-154; J Cyclist Friendly Amenities J maximized available shoulder widths on State for Transit Riders; routes by reducing travel lane widths to eleven J Signage for the East Coast Greenway; feet by re-striping 162 two-lane miles as part of paving projects; J Multi-Use Trail Feasibility Studies; J signed approximately 82 miles of East Coast J East Hartford “Road Diet”; Greenway routing on State roadways; and J Stratford Sidewalk Project; and J broke ground on CTfastrak. J Safe Routes to Schools Projects. Progressive Steps The Department, in an effort to attain an improved, more multi-modal transportation network consistent with our vision, made progressive steps to employ Complete Streets strategies by… J participating in and hosting Complete Streets training events for designers; J establishing an internal task force to plan the Department’s path forward; J including tools, such as the Bicycle and Pedestrian Travel Needs Assessment Form, as part of routine project development and design practices; and J implementing updated agency policies and programmatic guidelines relating to project design and eligible activities for funding. 4 Example Complete Streetscape Recent reconstruction of Route 6 and 44 in Manchester, with addition of sidewalks, five foot wide shoulders for bikes and bus turn out areas Complete Streets Strategies 5 The Department has embraced the Complete Streets involves designing and Complete Streets philosophy and has operating roads for all users, notably begun the process of formalizing this including pedestrians, cyclists, disabled through the creation of policies, revisions citizens, and transit users. to design manuals, and education of staff. While the idea of Complete Streets is Traditionally, while pedestrians and other generally considered to have widespread users have been considered during the support, it does present some philosoph- planning and design of roads, motor ical conflicts with regards to State routes, vehicle users have been the prime consid- which are almost exclusively higher eration for designers. volume roads. This has created a motorized vehicle State routes have a long established dependent society. primary purpose of mobility, to enable efficient travel on a regional or statewide The Complete Streets movement is basis, while local and lower level roads are changing the emphasis of design such intended more for access to property. that non-motorized users are considered equally with motorized users. Therefore, adopting a Complete Streets program at the State level presents J This can mean including provisions different challenges than a municipally such as sidewalks, bike lanes, wider established program. shoulders, pavement markings, signing, traffic signal enhancements, bus turn-outs, and appropriate land- scaping. J The focus for these efforts is typically in urban and suburban areas where the development and population density best support it, but the Department is adopting Complete Streets on a state- wide basis, wherever practical. 6 Design, Maintenance, and Infrastructure Design Considerations Internal Task Force Although there are no federal design In recognition of the importance of access standards for bicycle facilities, the for as well as the safety of non-motorized American Association of State Highway transportation users, the Department and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) established a Complete Streets Committee Guide for the Development of Bicycle in 2012. Facilities or a modification thereof, serves as a design guide. The committee is tasked with several responsibilities, whereby the scope of As with most guides, the AASHTO guide involvement will relate to items such cannot address every possible scenario so as traffic calming, road “diets”, bicycle designers often need to apply engineering and pedestrian accommodations, and judgment where specific information is coordination with municipal plans of not provided. development: J defining the goals of the Complete Streets program; J providing training and considering pilot projects; J consolidating a number of associated efforts and overseeing the need for and development/updates of manuals, policy statements; J revising the Bicycle and Pedestrian Travel Needs Assessment Form; and J eventually, future initiatives will include the development of a Com- plete Streets Manual that integrates with the Department’s Highway Design Manual. The committee is comprised of represen- tatives of several different agency units with subcommittees that sometimes include external partners. Design, Maintenance, and Infrastructure 7 Training Events Initial Complete Streets training events commenced in 2012 and consisted of both workshops and a structured course for designers. Workshops Sponsored Course Department staff attended three Complete The Department sponsored a two-day Streets workshops sponsored by CT Main Bicycle Facility Design course hosted Street. by the National Highway Institute (NHI Course No. 142046). The first and third workshops were held in Hartford and were attended by a select Attendance was representative of many group of Department representatives areas within the Department, regional having direct involvement in the Depart- planning organizations, and municipali- ment’s Complete Streets efforts. ties as well as the Connecticut Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board. The second workshop was held at the Department’s headquarters building in This training provided planners and Newington and was attended by most of designers with techniques for applying the agency’s Highway Design unit. existing standards and dealing with other technical issues involved. Department representatives made presen- tations at the first and second workshops, The course identified the availability of discussing the need for Complete Streets, federal, State, and local transportation the Department’s past and present efforts