What if We Had a Pandemic and No One Cared--No Lives Matter, mostly, in the US Highway Fatalities Pandemic

What if We Had a Pandemic and No One Cared--No Lives Matter, in US Highway

                                       Fatalities Pandemic

  “Yes, ’n’ and how many deaths will it take’ till he [a man] knows that

  too many people have died.”

—“Blowing in the Wind” 1963 

The analysis that follows this introduction outlines the Burlington and Chittenden County huge proportion statewide of high crash intersections and the lack of addressing those intersections with even a single roundabout built to date.  But this data takes place in a nation which itself is in a pandemic of highway fatalities.  Here are some of my thoughts on the larger question followed by the high crash intersection analysis.

There is a wholesale breakdown in our US highway fatality pandemic with its 21,000 yearly excess deaths extending from from top to bottom—the fed level, state (note a few states/provinces make the roundabout the standard, NY did it in 2005), metro planning (CCRPC) and our particular Burlington Department of Public Works.  (My home town, Keene, NH has five going on seven roundabouts, including one on Main Street at the Keene State College/Post Office gateway to downtown paid for with $4 million property tax monies.)  When it comes to highway safety in the United States a policy of “no lives matter” mostly prevails.  I have come to the conclusion a mix of factors is involved including but limited to: simple resistance to change, lack of leadership at every level, malign and benign neglect, a black hole in highway engineering education in regard to systemic safety, publicly employed traffic engineers too often diverted from any safety concerns for those who walk, lack of a "transportation safety" Fauci--all a reflection of systemic failure.  We all know now what systemic failure is, we are daily living or dying with it in the form of Covid-19.     

Norway seems to have broken away from #s 2, 3, and 4 nations where in 1990 we stood at #1 (and Sweden dropped to 5th in the most recent numbers).  Even admitting variance in national collection data, Norway latest year, 108 highway deaths versus Vermont average of about 70 now.  They did not record a single "child" death--US 15 and under highway deaths top 2,000.  Norway is now putting in median treatments on two lane rural roadways to prevent head on crashes and it has gotten measurable positive results.  We cannot get protected bike lanes yet much less roundabouts.  

            Chittenden County—26% of State Population, 42% of 111 High Crash 

               Vermont Intersections (Burlington Even Worse!)

Chittenden County (County) and Burlington streets and roadways hold a disproportionate number of Vermont high crash intersections.  

High crash intersections are those on major roads and streets averaging at least one injury a year in the most recent Vermont Agency of Transportation tabulation of 111.  A large majority of high crash intersections (all but one in the case of Burlington) are signalized, a now mostly obsolete and dangerous technology.  Most concerning is the apparent lack of any effort in either Burlington or Chittenden County to replace injury prone traffic signals with “best practices” roundabouts proven in Vermont downtowns averaging about one injury a decade.  Roundabouts cut serious and fatal injuries by about 90%.  (See Vermont high crash locations report here: https://vtrans.vermont.gov/sites/aot/files/highway/documents/highway/Formal%202012-2016%20High%20Crash%20Location%20Report.pdf  )

America itself has suffered three decade collapse of highway safety in fatalities per mile of travel, slipping from 1st to 15th among nations since 1990, the first year a roundabout was built in the US.  US now records 21,000 excess deaths compared to the performance of the top four nations.  This is the very definition of a “highway fatality pandemic.”  Add to this the 50% increase in pedestrian fatalities over the last decade which disproportionately affects African Americans and Hispanics. US excess deaths exemplify real carnage and permanent mark on the Federal Highway Administration whose funds traditionally drive all Vermont roadway capital investments.

  

Applying the national numbers to Vermont, about 30 of our 70 road fatalities per year are excess stemming from lack of “systematic safety” which begins with safe infrastructure investing.  Unfortunately Chittenden County and Burlington high crash intersection data show them worst of the worst.  Even more disturbing is not only the lack of attention to safety in investments in the County and Burlington but the specific inattention to dealing with high crash intersections—the “BTV Crash 20” high crash intersections injuries record of 28 injuries per year represents 18% of all injuries (including one fatal) tabulated in the 2012-2016 period.   And those roughly 150 injuries a year are composed of about one bicyclist/pedestrian injury weekly and two car occupants weekly.

For the County—using the 1.4 injuries per year per BTV Crash 20 intersection—the frequency of injury (66 total) at the County’s 47 high crash intersections is above one per week!   

There is a systemic failure to address unsafe intersections in the City and County.  As the third 3-year term—9 years—of Mayor Weinberger administration nears it end, not a single one of the BTV Crash 20 intersections is scheduled for a roundabout.  In fact there are no roundabouts in the County—a “metro area” and likely one of a handful in the nation without a single roundie.  While a roundabout is on the drawing board in Colchester, Mayor Weinberger was handed ready to design/build with 100% federal funds a roundabout at the “rotary” on Shelburne Street bordering Christ the King Elementary School—and after nine years could not move to construction!!   This intersection, known in the neighborhood as the “intersection of death,” is desperately wanted by those who live in the area.  Now the target date for that roundabout has slipped to 2022.  (Note the Burlington “intersection of death” was previously in the top five statewide but was taken off the list since the project was ticketed and programmed for final design and construction back about 2010.)  Just this summer a demonstration of a roundabout at a BTV Crash 20 intersection was dropped by the Department of Public Works and now will be done in 2021—the first roundabout presence at any busy public intersection in the County.  The roundabout situation in the County and City brings into question what the use of the term that safety is “critical” in highway investments (Burlington Transportation Plan, 2011) means in actual practice.  

Vermont was an early leaders in US roundabouts in the mid and late 1990s, then faded.  The first roundabout east of Vail, CO and north of Maryland was built in Montpelier in 1995 (19th in US) followed shortly by the first Manchester Center in 1997 and first 2-lane roundabout as well as interstate interchange in the northeast in 1999 (Brattleboro Keene-Turn).  But by 2005 when NY State Department of Transportation adopted the “roundabouts first” regulations a few other states undertook significant roundabout installations (over 7,000 today in North America).  The New Hampshire Department of Transportation leads now in New England, 

         State Numbers

Overall 41 of 255 Vermont municipalities recorded at least one high crash intersection 2012-2016.  But only eight municipalities recorded more than three high crash intersections: Burlington 20; Bennington 9; Brattleboro and South Burlington 7 each;  Colchester 5; and Essex, Williston and Winooski 4 each.  

Obviously Burlington sticks out like a sore thumb with more than twice the high crash intersections of any town in the state.  And the County towns listed (plus Richmond with 3) total of 47 amounts to 42% of the State total. 

Since Chittenden County is the only “metro” in Vermont and its Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) has a yearly Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) planning funds entitlement of about $550,000 (2018).  It is well known that Governor Phil Scott has been supportive of roundabouts in the past, recognizing their safety aspects as a race driver.  The Winooski traffic circle often is referred to as a roundabout—it is not one and about five of the Montpelier sized roundabouts would fit in what is really an old traffic circle design and still leave plenty of room!  The Winooski circle is in fact about the same size—500 feet by 200 feet—as the quarter mile oval at Thunder Road in Barre Town where many of Governor Scott’s racing victories occurred.  It is also noteworthy that the former CCRPC transportation policy director has for more than five years has been director of VTrans Policy and Planning Division including during the time when the VTrans secretary retained and imposed six injury generating and global heating signalized intersections on Burlington when the issue of “best practices” roundabouts came up in 2015 revisions decisions on the Champlain Parkway design.

                                          ---------------------

Finally, AAA has been a recent Paul Revere in US highway safety (see their 2017 report https://aaafoundation.org/safety-benefits-of-highway-infrastructure-investments/ ) and the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety have led in providing data and sounding the alarm starting with their 2001 research showing roundabouts reduce serious and fatal injuries about 90%.  And we must be thankful for the Organization for Economic and Community Development which hosts the International Transport Forum which produces an annual report enabling us to understand the American road safety plight within modern nations as we have plummeted to the lower depths.   https://www.itf-oecd.org/road-safety-annual-report-2019

Burlington Scores 18% of Highest Crash VT Intersections--the "BTV Crash-20

Burlington Scores 18% of Highest Crash VT Intersections--the "BTV Crash-20

“BTV Crash-20”: Burlington's 20 Intersections in the Vermont High Crash Location Report 2012-2016 

See the full report and list of BTV Crash-20 high crash nodes at :  TonyRVT.blogspot.com

Twenty of Vermont's high crash intersections reside within Burlington—20 or 18% of the 111 tabulated high crash intersections statewide in the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VAOT) 2012-2016 report containing five years of data. They are the “BTV Crash-20” in Burlington averaging at least one injury a year.

Burlington's BTV Crash-20 averaged 1.5 injuries—and received an overall rating taking into account injury severity and other factors. A roadway fatality occurs in Burlington about every three years. Four of seven recent Burlington fatalities were a pedestrian or bicyclist and all but one occurred at a signalized intersection (no longer the standard for safe intersections).  

Burlington Scores 18% of Highest Crash VT Intersections--the "BTV Crash-20

“BTV Crash-20”: Burlington's 20 Intersections in the Vermont High Crash Location Report 2012-2016

Twenty of Vermont's high crash intersections reside within Burlington—20 or 18% of the 111 tabulated high crash intersections statewide in the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VAOT) 2012-2016 report containing five years of data. They are the “BTV Crash-20” in Burlington averaging at least one injury a year.

Burlington's BTV Crash-20 averaged 1.5 injuries—and received an overall rating taking into account injury severity and other factors. A roadway fatality occurs in Burlington about every three years. Four of seven recent Burlington fatalities were a pedestrian or bicyclist and all but one occurred at a signalized intersection (no longer the standard for safe intersections).

Not only did Burlington hold six of the top 20 high crash slots (30%), the BTV Crash-20 list did not include the Shelburne/St. Paul/Locust/S. Willard intersection, locally known as the “intersection of death” because it is scheduled to be a roundabout in 2022 under a 100% federal highway funding program for safety investments.

Based on four of recent intersection fatalities a pedestrian (3) or bicyclist (1), a pedestrian or bicyclist occurs about every five years here. Nationwide the growth of pedestrian fatalities, over 45% since 2010, led to the highest number of pedestrian deaths in 2018, over 6,000, since 1990. Note that six of the last seven Burlington fatalities were at signalized intersections—the two 2018 fatalities were a pedestrian at an unmarked crossing at North Avenue/Poirier Place and a car occupant at Shelburne Street/Home Avenue.

Roundabouts according to an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 2001 report reduce serious and fatal injury crashes by about 90%. While the “Burlington Transportation Plan” issued in 2011 states safety as a “critical” element for transportation improvement there remains not a single “safe” intersection, aka roundabout, on a busy public street in the City or in the County. Note the $47 million Champlain Parkway project will introduce six new obsolete and unsafe traffic signal installations which promise a backward step in Burlington safety by increasing injuries and crashes in Burlington's South End. (It must be noted in view of the climate emergency a roundabout instead of a signal reduces global warming emissions 22-29% amounting to from 3,000 to over 10,000 gallons of gasoline reduction along with associated global warming emissions compared to a signalized intersection—the higher the traffic volume the higher the reduction in gasoline use and global warming emissions.)

All but one of the BTV Crash-20 intersections are signalized—the one sign controlled high crash intersection is North Street/North Union with three-way stop sign control. The BTV Crash-20 are a quarter of Burlington's total of about 75 signalized intersections. Burlington's share of high crash locations has been going up over the last three reports, from 14.5% in 2006-2010 to 18% of high crash locations 2012-2016. 

 

Burlington also features the number one highest crash rate in Vermont, the intersection of Main Street and South Winooski Avenue. Main/South Winooski in the five year period experienced 11 injuries—over two a year—98 crashes total with 90 crashes property damage only (no injuries resulting).

 

Based on frequency, just about every household has a member involved in a roadway crash every decade in Burlington or elsewhere. With about 150 injuries a year in the City and 1,400 property damage only crashes--about 16,000 crashes each decade mostly involving two vehicles or the equivalent of 30,000 affected households in a City of 16,000 households. Those fortunate not to be affected by a highway crash certainly observe a crash each decade or know those affected by a roadway crash.

The BTV Crash-20 costs can be calculated from value of types of crashes provided in the State report—it comes to $2.5 million a year, $12.4 million for the five years of data tabulated. These costs go into the costs of auto insurance policies for vehicle owners. 

 

The BTV Crash-20 represent about 10% of all injuries each year and a similar proportion of property damage only crashes.

Burlington High Crash Location Intersections Data 2012-2016


Base Data from Current Vermont High Crash Report


Data from“High Crash Location Report: Sections and Intersections 2012-2016”
Vermont Agency of Transportation


                                  Burlington High Crash
                                  Intersections of All State          % of Estimated 150 All Modes
                                  Intersections      % of State      Burlington Injuries/year
2006-2010                   18 of 124          14.5                              --
2010-2014                   19 of 132          14.4                   22.5 (34 injuries)
2012-2016                    20 of 111          18.0                   19.6 (29 injuries)


--6,840 PDO 2013-2017. 1,368 per year Citywide. 696 PDO 2012-2016 at 20 high crash locations, each year 139—10% of all PDO citywide.
--per decade approximately Citywide: 13,700 PDO crashes, 1,500 injury crashes; about 15,000 crashes overall Citywide per decade—equivalent to about one crash per decade per household in Burlington. About one third of all annual injuries or 50 injuries are a bicyclist or pedestrian, about equally divided.

2012-2016 High Crash Location Report
--“The average economic costs in 2014 as used in the report are: Fatality (Death) $1,500,000; Injury (Disabling Injury) $ 88,500; No Injury Observed $ 11,300 [property damage only, PDO]. P 6 [Note the U.S. Department of Transportation uses a value of life method, right now a life is valued in excess of $10 million.]
--20 BTV Intersections: 1 fatality, 147 injuries [1.47 injuries per intersection per year], 29.4 injuries/ 20 intersections per year--equals 19.6 of all roadway injuries recorded yearly (~150 based on recent survey)
--All are signalized except North Street/North Union
--111 Intersections reached threshold for high crash status, then are ranked
--the 20 BTV intersections are 18.0% of the 111 high crash intersections tabulated; 21.8% of the highest 87 crash ranked intersections
--696 property damage only (PDO), 139 PDO crashes per year, 7.0 PDO crashes per intersection per year
--cost of all crashes (five years): Fatality $1,500,000
Injuries $3,000,010
PPO $7,864,800
Total: 5 years: $12,364,810
Cost/year: $2,472,962


https://vtrans.vermont.gov/sites/aot/files/highway/documents/highway/Formal%202012-2016%20High%20Crash%20Location%20Report.pdf


2010-2014 High Crash Location Report

--19 of 132 intersections tabulated or 14.4%

--169 injuries 33.8 injuries per year, 1.8 injuries per intersection per year

2012-2016 High Crash Location Report


Tabulated Burlington Intersections—19 signalized, 1 3-way stop control

#1 S. Winooski/Main (Alternate US 7) 0.990 5 years/98 crashes/11 injuries/90 PDO


#5 Colchester/Barrett 0.990 5 years/34 crashes/7 injuries/1fatality/26 PDO


#11 South Prospect/Main (US 2) 0.220 5 years/72 crashes/9 injuries/65 PDO


#14 South Willard-US 7/Main 2.110 5 years/65 crashes/9 injuries/58 PDO


#15 Colchester/East Ave 0.430 5 years/44 crashes/9 injuries/35 PDO


#20 North Union/South Union/Pearl 0.000 5 years/19 crashes/5 injuries/15 PDO


#23 North/North Champlain 0.220 5 years/43 crashes/12 injuries/17 PDO


#24 Main/St. Paul 0.250 5 years/39 crashes/7 injuries/32 PDO


#25 Pearl/South Prospect/Colchester 0.930 5 years/40 crashes/12 injuries/34 PDO


#31 Battery/Main 0.220 5 years/45 crashes/8 injuries/38 PDO


#32 VT 127 Beltline 1.340 5 years/5 crashes/6 injuries (Location ?)/2 PDO


#38 North Winooski (Alternative US 7)/Pearl 1.310 5 years/61 crashes/13 injuries/51 PDO


#40 Park/North 0.280 5 years/19 crashes/4 injuries/16 PDO


#46 North Winooski (Alternate 7)/North 1.620 5 years/19 crashes/3 injuries/16 PDO


#47 US 7 North Willard/Pearl 2.420 5 years/57 crashes/13 injuries/47 PDO


#52 Main/South Union 0.520 5 years/37 crashes/9 injuries/30 PDO


#64 US 7 North Willard/Riverside Alternative 7 3.050 5 years/27 crashes/5 injuries/23 PDO


#76 Swift/Shelburne Rd. (S. Burlington/Burlington) 1.720 5 years/60 crashes/1 injuries/59 PDO

#87 North Union/North 0.300 5 years/15 crashes/0 injuries/15 PDO (3-way stop)


#110 North Avenue/North 0.180 5 years/20 crashes/4 injuries/17 PDO


Tony Redington
Safe Streets Burlington
TonyRVT99@gmail.com
November 13, 2019

Burlington Roundabout Cure for Signalized Intersection Highway Deaths

Burlington Intersection Death List...Our Recent History of Fatal and Serious Injuries...Now Modern Roundabouts Cut Fatal/Serious Injury by About 90 Percent 

The National Picture of Highway Safety

About 9,000 fatals--23% of the over 40,000 annual highway deaths--occur at or near intersections.  Half of all senior driver and pedestrian deaths involve intersections.  For every U.S. fatality there are about seven disabling injuries.  In 2003 U.S. pedestrian deaths and disabling injuries, included in the US highway totals, amount to 20,700 and bicyclists numbers were 6,600.  Unfortunately since 2010 US pedestrian deaths are up 45% nationally.  Once 1st in highway safety in 1990, the U.S. has fallen to 18th.  Based on highway miles driven we now have over 23,000 excess deaths compared to the performance of the top four nations—U.K. (co-leader with us in 1990), Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.   In a recent year highway crashes were the highest cause of death for those aged 4 to 34.  

The Vermont Highway, Gun, Opioid Deaths Data

Current U.S. longevity decline, the only one among advanced nations, coincides with the extremely high rates and numbers of highway, gun and opioid deaths:  over 40,000 highway deaths (2018), 39,800 gun deaths (2017), and 70,000 opioid deaths (2017-2018 average).  Vermont death numbers are 69 highway (2017-2018 average); gun 78 (2016); and opioid 109 (2018).  (Alcohol addiction remains far and above these three causes of death in U.S.)  For highway safety, returning Vermont and the nation to number one would halve Vermont highway fatalities, a reduction of about 35 a year.  Adopting neighbor Massachusetts gun regulation, lowest in nation in gun deaths, would reduce our gun deaths up to two-thirds, about 40 less deaths per year.  Certainly opioid reduction efforts can very likely attain a 50% reduction or 55 deaths a year.  Overall the estimated potential reduction in highway/gun/opioid deaths totals 130 a year.  All three areas require equal, aggressive governmental attention at the local, state and federal levels.  

First and foremost in regard to highway safety the United States and each state—Vermont can take this action now—must undertake a “systematic safety” plan and program, a comprehensive planning and implementation plan which led several advanced nations past the U.S. in highway safety performance and even in many cases continues to widen the gap with the United State.  The local equivalent of “systematic safety” can take the form of a strong “Vision Zero” initiative but to this time Vision Zero initiatives have been at most halfway measures. 

The Burlington Picture of Highway Safety

The Burlington roadway deaths and injuries show a need to address pedestrian and bicycle carnage because these latter two modes not only are more prevalent in urban areas but because there are strong currents to expand these “active transportation modes” for health and environmental reasons.  In addition to safety as the first and overriding concern, consideration of global warming, air quality, and resource constraints are now recognized as a given in transportation investments decision making. 

Burlington clearly is not immune to deaths and injuries at our intersections.  Burlington recently averaged 150 roadway injuries yearly including a pedestrian and car passenger fatality in the 2014-2018 period.  About a third of annual injuries, about 50, comprised those on foot or bicycle in roughly equal proportions.  Most pedestrian injuries occur at intersections.  Two of the three pedestrian fatalities in Burlington dating from 1998 were at a signalized intersection as was the one cyclist fatality.  A survey taken as part of the PlanBTV Walk Bike adopted in 2017 found (2011-2015) found 17 intersections (“the dirty 17”), mostly signalized, averaging one injury a year—again including a pedestrian fatality in the survey period.  Burlington has three of the highest current Vermont Agency of Transportation (VAOT) crash intersections in Vermont—Colchester/Barrett/Riverside US 7 (#1); Main/S. Prospect US 2 (#16); and Pearl/ N. Willard US 7 (#27).  The only reason the Burlington intersection Shelburne/Locust/S. Willard/St. Paul is no longer on the list is because it is set for construction as a roundabout.   

Burlington from 1998 through 2018 recorded seven road fatalities, about one every three years.   All but one of the seven occurred at a signalized intersection: three car occupants (two drivers and a passenger); three pedestrians; and one bicyclist.  With 150 injuries a year in a five year survey period, it fair to conclude that about one fatality occurs here for about every 450 injuries.  Again, six of seven fatalities occurred at one of the City's approximately 75 traffic signal intersections.  Finally, it is the pedestrian and bicyclist who suffers disproportionately when it comes to fatalities versus the car occupant who retains the protections of a motor vehicle—while pedestrian and cyclist injuries in Burlington are one third of all injuries, when it comes to fatalities they are the majority, four of seven.   

The Modern Roundabout Cure

The modern roundabout, the 53 year-old powerful technology composed of stone age materials, cuts about 90 percent of fatalities and serious injuries as well as injury severity  (Insurance Institute for High Safety [2000]).

Below find added information on Burlington fatal crashes at intersections, only some of the recent fatalities statewide and a small fraction of critical injuries at Vermont intersections.  The signalized intersections appear good candidates for roundabouts. Vermont passed the first US state legislation in 2002 calling for a transportation department to aggressively pursue installing roundabouts at dangerous intersections. 

Roundabouts in downtowns and village centers in Vermont are a proven safety treatment.  The five Vermont downtown roundabouts (Manchester Center, Middelbury and Montpelier) in their first 52 years of performance recorded zero bicycle injuries, one pedestrian suffering bumps and bruises and four minor car occupant injuries—one injury (none serious) a decade.

Several jurisdictions—states, Canadian provinces, counties and cities—have adopted “roundabouts first” policies.  NY State Department of Transportation is certainly the most prominent with its “roundabouts first policy” in place since 2005.  

In a 2011 report, AAA called for a White House Conference of all interests and adoption there of a “zero fatality rate” goal on the nation's highways.  That AAA study done by the reputable Cambridge Systematics found highway fatality and injury social costs twice the cost of congestion in all but the smallest metropolitan areas—and higher in all metro areas.  The Federal Highway Administration uses a highway fatality social cost as $6.1 million and an injury $126,000 (2009 dollars).  

Burlington Intersection Death List  1998-2018

Linda Ente, 48, Winooski (Home Avenue/Shelburne Road, signalized).  Pedestrian killed in car crash (1998).  Employed at adjacent supermarket. 

Charles Burch, 72, Burlington (Manhattan Drive/VT 127, signalized).  Bicyclist killed in car crash (2004).

Raymond Herbert, 23, Vergennes (Main Street/Spear Street, signalized).  Driver killed in two vehicle crash (2005).

Kaye Borneman, 43, Burlington (Main Street/St. Paul Street, signalized) Driver killed in two vehicle T-bone crash (2010). 

Bruce Lapointe, 63, Winooski (Colchester Avenue/Barrett Street/Riverside Avenue, signalized).  Pedestrian killed on motor vehicle crash on crosswalk (2012). 

Lul Ali Gure, 29, Burlington (Home Avenue/Shelburne Road, signalized).  Car occupant killed in two car crash (2018). 

Jonathan Jerome, 61, Winooski (North Avenue/Poirier Place, sign control).  Pedestrian killed crossing North Avenue in a car crash (2018).

Tony Redington

Safe Streets Burlington   

TonyRVT99@gmail.com September 9, 2019

Safe Streets Burlington -- "Champlain Parkway White Paper One: Evaluation"

Champlain Parkway White Paper One: Evaluation

       

                      “Champlain Parkway: Get it Right the First Time”

                       Panel and Discussion Wednesday 

                       February 3, 6:30 p.m. at Arts Riot, 400 Pine St.

Champlain Parkway White Paper One: Evaluation

Let's shape it to become a street the public can love!

January 16, 2016

Our Parkway View—Do it right the first time by shaping a highest all-modes safety and quality transportation street to:

1. Play a central part in achieving a livable South End community
2. Remove trucks off residential streets
3. Assure safety, especially for those who walk and bike, while reducing global warming gases and other pollutants, cutting gasoline use, and intersection delay.
4. Ignite and sustain a vibrant South End industrial-commercial-arts economy

The current Parkway now promoted by the City, Vermont Agency of Transportation (VAOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) gets very little right. Most importantly the current Parkway completely fails the following critical tests. The City’s Parkway design results in a net drop in safety for each mode. Added to poor safety: the current Parkway design would increase global warming gases and other pollutants, waste gasoline, strangle economic vitality, cut off connectivity to key adjacent areas, and damage neighborhood livability. Therefore, Safe Streets Burlington (SSB) calls for stopping the project design followed by developing revisions centering on major upgrades to safety, reducing environment impacts, and increasing economic benefits.

The current Parkway now promoted by the City, Vermont Agency of Transportation (VAOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) gets very little right. Most importantly the current Parkway completely fails the following critical tests. The City’s Parkway design results in a net drop in safety for each mode. Added to poor safety: the current Parkway design would increase global warming gases and other pollutants, waste gasoline, strangle economic vitality, cut off connectivity to key adjacent areas, and damage neighborhood livability. Therefore, Safe Streets Burlington (SSB) calls for stopping the project design followed by developing revisions centering on major upgrades to safety, reducing environment impacts, and increasing economic benefits.

Remember about 15 years ago the City itself fought against the route of Pine Street from the old Public Works facility to Main Street and lost out to FHWA and VAOT opposition. Since the last public hearing was held a decade ago 2006, a large portion of today's Burlington population never participated in formulating the current design.

Safe Streets Burlington (SSB) challenges the current Champlain Parkway's (Parkway) decades old purpose of speeding cars from I 189 to downtown. The current 2006 Parkway plan correctly moves trucks off residential streets, but new priorities of this decade demand safe streets and intersections for our families and visitors. These priorities include reducing gasoline use and all pollutants tied to climate change, and maintaining economic vitality and growth centering on the arts and business sectors. SSB condemns cutting off the connectivity of the South End to Queen City Park Road, Kmart Plaza and points beyond.

SSB calls for a Parkway to become a street the public can love, a street leading the parade to thriving, livable neighborhoods. Therefore SSB abandons the Parkway purpose of the past half century--moving cars at high speeds to downtown totally blind to what lies outside the curbs. A Parkway design with separate walk and bike facilities along with roundabout intersections cures most of the fundamental defects in the current design. This separation of walk and bike facilities along with safe intersections assures an immeasurable gain for the South End and the City. Progress in other Vermont towns on safe streets and our own North End corridor plan show the way. A project price tag of $43 million requires the City to “do it right the first time.”

Can safety be ignored with a massive 47% predicted growth in Lakeside Avenue traffic facing the Lakeside neighborhood just to get to Pine Street? Can the safety and needs of those on foot and bicycle be ignored in the face of a 39% increase of traffic along Pine Street above Lakeside Avenue through the heart of the commercial, retail, and arts section? The current design dismisses these questions. SSB calls for a Parkway revised using designs which actually improve safety for all modes along Pine Street and Lakeside Avenue.

City leaders apologize for obsolete project design for every mode, and promise later improvements to make up for admitted Parkway design defects. SSB says correct the project defects now, don't kick the can down the road! With $43 million to work with composed of 95% federal funds, a “fits and starts” Parkway approach simply makes no sense.

Burlington residents who comprise Safe Streets Burlington call for quality and safe transportation investing within our City. Like the late urbanologist Jane Jacobs, SSB places people and neighborhood livability first and catering to cars and trucks second. Both SSB and the City start from common values, but the current Parkway design does not meet today's safety and quality street features, namely, sidewalks throughout, separate safe bike pathways and vehicle travelways—all of which would be served at busy intersections by the unrivaled safety and service of the modern roundabout. By contrast all of these very features sparkle in the North Avenue 2.8 mile corridor plan embraced by the City in 2014. The North Avenue design features separate cycle track end-to-end and sidewalks end-to-end and at least three of seven signals converted to roundabouts. The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) support conversions of signals to roundabouts for seniors safety. Three states including New York the transportation departments of two Canadian provinces follow an intersection policy of “roundabouts first.”

Why safety first? When the Parkway project began in 1965 the U.S. ranked first in highway safety and then sunk to 19^th in the world. With a fatality rate twice that of leading nations, attaining the lowest rates translates to saving 13,000 U.S. lives a year. Both walk and bike fatalities remain a pressing concern as we encourage more people to undertake these healthy modes of travel. Burlington recorded five fatalities since 1998—two pedestrians, one bicyclist, and two drivers—all of which occurred at signalized intersections. Consider that there has not been one single fatality to date at any of the 4,000 roundabouts in the U.S. built since 1990. Compare the roundabout record against two Burlington pedestrian fatalities occurring since 1998 at its 75 traffic signals.

Now for the first time we have Vermont downtown roundabout data covering over 50 years with only one recorded pedestrian injury at the five busy downtown roundabouts in Montpelier, Middlebury and Manchester Center! Compare one pedestrian over a half century to five injuries (one critical) at two Parkway intersections in just four years (Pine at Locust and Lakeside)! Compare the Vermont downtown roundabouts to Burlington's overall “dirty 17” intersections (13 signalized) recording an average of one pedestrian injury yearly (one fatal) 2011-2014! SSB insists that the City must not make $43 million in street investments and fail to complete any modern safe facilities for those who walk, bike and travel by car! The Parkway design must turn to safety first!

The current Parkway design pales in comparison to the 2.8 mile North Avenue “model of excellence” plan adopted by the City Council in October 2014. In spite of massive expected traffic growth up to 47%, the Parkway design lacks North Avenue's basic features: end-to-end cycle track, end-to-end sidewalks, conversion of injury generating signals to roundabouts. Instead, the Parkway actually adds five new injury generating signalized intersections! Even the “new” Home Ave. to Lakeside Ave. section lacks either sidewalks or cycle track. Even FHWA, while opposing Parkway roundabouts, boasts of their benefits: “Compared to other types of intersections...Roundabouts improve safety: more than 90% reduction in fatalities, 76% reduction in injuries, 35% reduction in all crashes, slower speeds are generally safer for pedestrians.” Compared to the single lane roundabout the typical traffic signal doubles vehicle crashes, increases pollutants by about 30%, and raises rates of serious and fatal injury rates by upwards of nine times (900%). Roundabouts uniquely also lower vehicle speeds outwards one to two blocks.

SSB disagrees with the City and VAOT. The City says that VAOT blocks further safety and service changes to the Parkway. The City says in effect that the South End must accept unsafe streets and transportation infrastructure because these are forced on the City by VAOT and the Montpelier FHWA office. SSB rejects a situation wherein the City is forced to spend $43 million in transportation infrastructure, to accept the crashes and injuries (and, yes, perhaps a fatality or two over the 20 year lifetime of a transportation investment) or is faced with losing $40 million federal dollars. SSB points to the last significant busy street investment—the opening of the Church Street Marketplace 35 years ago—when SSB insists we can no longer ignore decades of no meaningful change for safety on Burlington busy streets!

Last but not least the Parkway clearly impacts surface and stormwater runoff increasingly of concern and directly affects the Barge Canal superfund site. This site continues being active today and an ongoing threat to Lake Champlain, the source of our City water supply and centerpiece of the of our waterfront tourist economy. Contaminated and toxic soils throughout the Parkway route and westward through the enterprise zone remain a continuing challenge. Re-Imagining includes adopting recent innovative practices and treatments to improve runoff performance, reducing pressure on the Barge Canal superfund site, and addressing in a straight forward fashion contaminated soils.

SSB calls for an immediate stop to project design. SSB calls for starting a discussion of new designs centering on safety and environmental and economically beneficial upgrades--upgrades without unreasonable associated costs, time delay, and permitting. The residents of the City and the South End, the City, the State and FHWA officials certainly share our SSB values—relocating truck traffic outside of neighborhoods, attaining true safety for all users, pursuing sustained economic vitality, acting on climate change by reducing pollutants and gasoline use, and achieving livable neighborhoods. Now the sole task remains of applying our common concerns to a project which is so critical to our South End neighborhoods and the City.

To join SSB and help to bring a world class street to the South End, a street our residents can love, please visit our website www.SafeStreetsBurlington.com or email SafeStreetsBurlington@gmail.com