When I was an undergrad I worked as a Traffic Engineer Student Employee at Michigan State University (MSU) and they were and are very progressive in implementing pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Their goal is to reduce vehicle traffic on campus in favor of safer travel for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. I helped perform several studies for the resident Traffic Engineer, Stephanie O'Donnell, PE where we were able to show how well various changes helped or did not effect the existing system.
Various shared lanes in traffic as well as extensive bike paths, some shared with pedestrians, other bike lanes adjacent to sidewalks and some completely independent. A lot of this is visible from Google Earth and Google Street-view, but some is best experienced in person. MSU has made great strides to accommodate for people with various disabilities, of which MSU has a large population, to ensure everyone can safely navigate campus. Some of these may not likely be feasible for an urban area where ROW and vehicle needs are more important, but it's definitely a good resource for a lot of ideas on how different ideas have proven to reduce number and severity of accidents in favor of pedestrians and bicycles.
As part of these efforts in 2006, MSU was awarded an Outstanding Contributions to Traffic Safety Award from the Governor's Traffic Safety Advisory Commission and continues to be a leader in traffic safety. The AUTTC, All University Traffic and Transportation Committee (
AUTTC) or the resident Traffic Engineer at MSU would be a great resource for you.
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James Smith A.M.ASCE
Civil Engineer
Grand Rapids MI
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-20-2017 20:37
From: Richard Hennessy
Subject: bike/pedestrian operations in urban streets
Some of the sources mentioned may provide some good guidance. In a thirty-year career, I have seen few examples of actual good neighborhood street design in practice. However, for an actual example, in the late 90's McKinney, Texas implemented a policy of bicycle and pedestrian-friendly neighborhood street design in the Southwest growth area. The policy resulted in development of a large segment of the City with a consistent pattern of residential collector streets that allow pedestrians and bicycle riders to conveniently travel over many miles without ever having to travel along arterial streets. Recently, the City has taken advantage of the street design to sign "bicycle boulevards" to encourage the more effective use of these low-level residential collector streets for pedestrian and bicycle travel. Midland, Texas has also implemented such design policy during a period of time. Obviously, there are probably other examples in place. While working to improve pedestrian and bicycle use and safety in existing areas of our cities, we should be using good bicycle and pedestrian-friendly design as new areas are developed.
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Richard Hennessy P.E., M.ASCE
RETIRED
McKinney TX
Keller Williams RealtyKeller Williams RealtyKeller Williams RealtyKeller Williams Realty
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-20-2017 14:49
From: Luther Cox
Subject: bike/pedestrian operations in urban streets
Concerning the planning for bicycles and pedestrians, I can offer experience from 42 years of investigating collisions. The most frequent cause of collisions came from either excessive differential speed or improper turns. In short, always design where possible to keep pedestrians and bicycles away from each other, and automotive vehicles away from both of them, if you want to reduce the number collisions involving them. Actually, there are two categories of bicycle riders to worry about and separate, the fast and the slow. Excessive differential speed to me is 10 mph or greater. Best wishes for your success in achieving these goals.
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Luther O. Cox, Jr.,
PE, F.NSPE, M. ASCE
loceng@...
770-929-3614
Conyers, Georgia
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-18-2017 16:35
From: Majed Al-Ghandour
Subject: bike/pedestrian operations in urban streets
Hi,
Does anyone have information on bike/ped operations best practices or examples or lessons learned from cities around the county? I'm really interested in starting a discussion on any key items that would be critical in improving bike/ped operations in urban streets.
Thanks!
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Majed Al-Ghandour Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE
Manager - Engineering Manager
Raleigh NC
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