TOWN OF BROOKLINE

Department of Public Works 333 Washington Street Brookline, MA 02445-6863

Safety Assessment for the

Beacon St Crosswalks at Winthrop Rd

Date: May, 2018 Brookline Transportation Division prepared this safety assessment for the two Beacon Street crosswalks at Winthrop Road to examine the existing conditions for any potential safety deficiencies or opportunities for improvements to increase safety for vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles. The study was initiated by a Brookline business owner request. The study intersections can be seen in Figure 1.

The study will also specifically look if the marked crosswalk should be enhanced with rectangular rapid flashing beacons. Recommendations will be based on the guidelines found in the latest Town of Brookline Department of Public Works Crosswalk Policy and Design Guidelines and the manual on uniform traffic control devises.

Rectangular rapid flash beacons (RRFB) are advanced safety features that help pedestrians alert motorists to their presence within the crosswalk. It is important to know that RRFBs are not traffic control devices. The lights are activated via push button used by the pedestrian as they begin to cross the roadway. Pedestrians are expected to wait until there is a sufficient gap in traffic before entering the crosswalk. The LED lights are timed to allow enough time for the pedestrians to completely cross the roadway. Drivers are expected to follow State law and yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk. RRFB shall

Studies have found that RRFBs have been able to improve the rate at which drivers yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk from 10‐20% to 70‐85%.

EXISTING CONDITIONS

Roadways

Beacon Street is classified by Massachusetts Department of Transportation as an Urban Principal Arterial under local (town) Jurisdiction. The roadway generally runs in an east‐west direction and provides a connection between the edge of Brighton to Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. The road generally provides two eastbound and westbound travel lanes with a parking lane and bicycle lanes. The posted speed limit along Beacon Street is 30 miles per hour (mph). Land use along Beacon Street is a mix of residential, medical and commercial uses in the study area.

Winthrop Road is classified by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) as a local road under town Jurisdiction. The roadwayy generall runs in an north‐south direction and provides a connection between Beacon Street and Gardner Road. Winthrop Road provides one travel lane in each direction, on Street parking is permitted within the study area on the east side of the street. The regulatory speed limit is 25 mph. Land use along Winthrop Road primarily is residential.

Intersections

Winthrop Road meets Beacon Street to form an unsignalized T intersection. The Beacon Street eastbound approach provides two trough lanes and the westbound approach provides a two through lanes and a left turn lane. Beacon Street has a wide median that provide angled parking, the green line trolley tracks, and sidewalks. Curb extensions are provided on the parking side at the marked crosswalks across Beacon Street. The Beacon Street approaches operate free with no control and the Winthrop Road approach operates under stop control with right turn only turn restriction. Land use at the intersection includes the Stanetsky Memorial Chapel, Sunshine Academy, Burro Bar Brookline and the Brookline Bank. There is ornamental style street lighting located at the northwest, northeast, and southeast corners of the intersection.

Beacon St Eastbound Approach to Winthrop Road SPEED STUDY

Vehicle speeds were obtained on Beacon Street near Winthrop Road for the westbound and eastbound travel directions. Speed data are provided in the Appendix. The posted regulatory speed limit in the site vicinity is 30 miles per hour (mph). Table 1 presents a summary of the travel speed data collect.

Table 1 Study Area Travel Speeds Travel Speed Travel Direction Speed Limit Average 85th Percentile Beacon Street Westbound 30 mph 22 mph 28 mph Eastbound 30 mph 21 mph 27 mph

As summarized in Table 1, the average travel speed on Beacon Street in the site vicinity traveling westbound is 22 mph and the 85th percentile travel speed is 28 mph. The eastbound average travel speed is 21 mph and the 85th percentile travel speed is 27 mph. The Brookline Department of Public Works Crosswalk Policy and Design Guidelines require the 85th percentile speed to be 40 mph or less for the installation of a marked crosswalk on an uncontrolled approach to an intersection.

TRAFFIC VOLUMES

Manual turning movement counts (TMC) were conducted at the study intersection in May 2018. Traffic data was collected during the weekday morning (7:00 AM to 9:00 PM) and weekday evening (4:00 PM to 6:00 PM) peak periods. These hours represent the peak periods of pedestrian and vehicular volume. Pedestrian crossings during the peak hour are summarized in Table 2 and vehicle movements are depicted in Figure 2. Count data are provided in the Appendix

Table 2 Existing Pedestrian Crossings Pedestrians Crossing Per Peak Hour Westbound Side Eastbound Side Weekday Morning 35 77 86 90

As summarized in table 2, in the weekday morning peak hour it was observed that 35 pedestrians were ecrossing th Beacon Street westbound side and 77 pedestrians crossed on the eastbound side. In the weekday evening peak hour it was observed that 86 pedestrians were crossing the Beacon Street westbound side and 90 pedestrians crossed on the eastbound side. During the peak hours, a significant portion of the pedestrians crossing where school and day care aged children.

Rapid rectangular rapid flashing beacons should be considered when there is a high volume of crossing pedestrians or bicyclist.

Daily Traffic

An automated traffic recorder (ATR) count was conducted for Beacon Street at Winthrop Road in May 2018. The results of the counts are summarized in Table 3, and are shown below.

Table 3 Existing Roadway Traffic‐volume Summary Weekday Weekday Morning Peak Hour Weekday Evening Peak Hour Daily Percent Peak Percent Peak Volume Volume Daily Flow Volume Daily Flow (vpd) 1 (vph)2 Traffic Direction (vph)2 Traffic Direction Tappan Street 22,702 1677 7% 64%EB3 1,586 7% 70%WB3 1Two‐way daily traffic expressed in vehicles per day. 2Two‐way peak hour volume expressed in vehicles per hour. 3EB = eastbound WB = westbound

As summarized in Table 3, daily traffic volumes on Beacon Street are approximately 22,702 vehicles per day (vpd) during weekdays. Peak hour traffic on Beacon Street is approximately 7 percent of daily traffic volumes with directional flow split heavier eastbound in the morning and westbound in the evening.

The Brookline crosswalk guidelines state special treatments should be implemented on a 2‐Lane roadway with ADT greater than 9,000 vehicles per day or 4‐lane roadways with ADT greater then 12,00 vehicles per day.

Rapid rectangular rapid flashing beacons should be considered when there is a high volume of motor vehicles and vehicles are observed not yielding to pedestrians in the crosswalk.

SIGHT DISTANCE

The American Association of State and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) standards reference stopping sight distance as the relevant sight distance requirement for a pedestrian crossing. Stopping sight distance is the length of roadway ahead that is visible to the driver. The available sight distance on a roadway should be sufficiently long enough to enable a vehicle traveling at or near the design speed to stop before reaching a stationary object in its path, although greater length of visible roadway are desirable.

Table 4 Sight Distance Approach Available AASHTO Recommended 1 /Travel Sight Average 85th Percentile Direction Distance Posted Speed Travel Speed2 Travel Speed3 Stopping Sight Distance (SSD) Proposed Tappan St Crosswalk near Garrison Eastbound >300’ 200’ 130’ 180’ Westbound >300’ 200’ 120’ 170’ 1Recommended sight distance based on AASHTO, A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets. Based on driver height of eye of 3.5 feet to object height of 2.0 feet for and adjustments for roadway grade. 2Average Speed is 19 mph SB and 21 mph NB. 385th percentile travel speed is 24 mph SB and 26 mph NB.

The Beacon Street eastbound and westbound approaches to the crosswalk location have an excess of 300 feet of available stopping sight distance exceeding AASHTO’s minimum recommended distance. The existing stopping sight distance is adequate for a crosswalk on an uncontrolled approach.

CRASH SUMMARY

In order to identify accident trends and safety characteristics for the study intersection accident reports were obtained from MassDOT Crash Database and the Brookline Police Department for the latest five‐ year period available The Appendix contains detailed crash reports. The MassDOT reported accidents are outlined below in Table 5.

Table 5 MassDOT Accident Summary

Data Category

Year: 2011 0 2012 0 2013 0 2014 1 2015 0 Total 1 Type: Angle 1 Rear‐End 0 Head‐On 0

Sideswipe 0 Unknown/Other 0 Event: Collision with Pedestrian 0 Collision with Bicycle 0 Collision with Moped 0 Collision with Vehicle 1 Collision with Parked Car 0 Collision with Object 0 Unknown/Other 0 Severity:

P. Damage Only 1 Personal Injury 0 Fatality 0 Unknown/Other 0 Conditions: Dry 1 Wet 0 Snow/Ice 0 Other/Unreported 0 Time: 7:00 AM to 9 AM 0 4:00 PM to 6 PM 0 Rest of Day 1

As outlined in Table 5, one crash was reported on the MassDOT crash database for the Beacon Street at Winthrop Road intersection for the latest five year period available. The Brookline Police Department activity reports for the latest five year period available reported five incidents. Two of the five reported crashes involved a pedestrian being struck by a vehicle. CONCLUSION

The installation of rectangular rapid flashing beacons and advanced yield marking are recommended as show in Figure 3.

The advanced yield markings are advised when an approach to a crosswalk has multiple, uncontrolled lanes, this type of crosswalk is susceptible to a pedestrian crash termed a multiple threat crash. A multiple threat crash is when yielding vehicles stopped or slowing too close to the crosswalk screen the pedestrian from the view of another motorist approaching in the lane the pedestrian is crossing next. One treatment that addresses this threat is the use of yield marking in advance of the crosswalk along with “yield here to pedestrian” signs.

The rectangular rapid flashing beacons are recommend based on a high daily vehicle volume on Beacon Street of approximately 22,702 vehicles per day, a crash history that included five reported incidents from the Brookline Police Department two of which involved pedestrians being struck by a vehicle in the past five years and a crosswalk crossing two uncontrolled lanes of traffic. The Brookline Department of Public Works Crosswalk Policy and Design Guidelines state special treatments should be implemented on a 2‐Lane roadway with ADT greater than 9,000 vehicles per day or 4‐lane roadways with ADT greater then 12,00 vehicles per day.