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 CROSSINGSCrosswalk Policy + Traffic Calming
• 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.
A concrete pedestrian refuge island provides a place to wait and slows traffic (New York City)
High-visibility crosswalks can improve yielding to pedestrians when speeds are slow.
SAFE CROSSINGSPermanent Refuge Island (Capital Construction)
A refuge island with plantings (Vancouver, BC) A refuge island with pedestrian crossing signs (Silver Spring, MD)
A high-visibility crosswalk and pedestrian refuge island,built using interim materials (Seattle, WA)
Trial pedestrian refuge islands built from rubber curbs and pedestrian crossing signs (Atchison, KS)
SAFE CROSSINGSInterim Refuge Islands
• 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
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BULBOUT/BUMPOUTHorizontal Control
INTERIM BULBOUT/BUMPOUT
• Painted curb extensions can be built quickly to test their efficacy, before building out in concrete.
Interim curb extensions using paint and flexposts (Seattle, WA)
• 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
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VERTICAL ENCLOSUREVisual Control
SAFE CROSSINGSTypes of treatments by intersection
CEMETERY ENTRANCES
TYPICAL INTERSECTIONS
SAFE CROSSINSCrosswalk with interim refuge island