Dallas Avenue Traffic Calming Department of Mobility and Infrastructure Katy Sawyer, P.E., Project Engineer Craig Toocheck, Staff Engineer August 1, 2018 South Dallas Ave characteristics: • Focus area: Wilkins to Forbes • 30 feet wide • About 8,000 vehicles/day • Speed limit 25 MPH • Median speed ~37 MPH • Parking lane on west side, minimally used • Cemetery on east side SAFE CROSSINGS Crosswalk Policy + Traffic Calming High-visibility crosswalks can improve A concrete pedestrian refuge island provides a yielding to pedestrians when speeds are slow. place to wait and slows traffic (New York City) • Elements like high-visibility crosswalks and pedestrian refuge islands can, under the right conditions, slow traffic speeds and make crossing the street safer and easier. SAFE CROSSINGS Permanent Refuge Island (Capital Construction) A refuge island with plantings (Vancouver, BC) A refuge island with pedestrian crossing signs (Silver Spring, MD) SAFE CROSSINGS Interim Refuge Islands A high-visibility crosswalk and pedestrian refuge island, Trial pedestrian refuge islands built from rubber curbs and built using interim materials (Seattle, WA) pedestrian crossing signs (Atchison, KS) BULBOUT/BUMPOUT Horizontal Control • Characteristics • Extension of the curbline toward the centerline of the street • Can be achieved via physical curb, paint, pavement removal or other techniques • Typical use • Appropriate on most street types • Paired with crosswalks can narrow pedestrian crossing distance and improve visibility • Considerations • Street cleaning and snow removal • Maintenance and cost 6 INTERIM BULBOUT/BUMPOUT Interim curb extensions using paint and flexposts (Seattle, WA) • Painted curb extensions can be built quickly to test their efficacy, before building out in concrete. VERTICAL ENCLOSURE Visual Control • Characteristics • Vertical edge to the street • Gives a sense of enclosure naturally slowing travel speeds • Typical use • Any street type • Considerations • Can be accomplished with built structures or street trees • The closer together vertical elements are, the more effective the traffic calming effect • Trees take time to grow; large buildings are not appropriate in all contexts 8 SAFE CROSSINGS Types of treatments by intersection CEMETERY ENTRANCES TYPICAL INTERSECTIONS SAFE CROSSINS Crosswalk with interim refuge island.