Burlington Sidewalks are “Shared Paths”—Aim for Ped Only
Sidewalks!
—The differences: North Ave Plan, Champlain Parkway and
Parkway RIGHTway
Confusion exists on what is a sidewalk, a bikeway and a shared-use path here in Burlington.
Actually with only one exception all Burlington sidewalks are shared-use paths as bikes are allowed to travel there along with pedestrians. As a senior most of my bike riding has been on sidewalks as there are practically no protected bike lanes (cycle track) yet in the City. Streets with painted bike lanes are not safe in general, and prohibitively unsafe for less skilled and older/younger cyclist who all are consigned to the sidewalk system.
Note we can exclude here any discussion of the Burlington Bikepath and similar pathways. The Bikepath is a recreation path—it is not a transportation facility, a facility marked by being lit and maintained year round.
The one exception in the City to bicyclist use of sidewalks technically are the adjacent streets of the Marketplace, South Winooski Ave from Pearl to Main Streets, Main St from South Winooski Ave to Saint Paul St, Saint Paul St from Main St to Bank St, Pearl St from Saint Paul St to South Winooski Ave. Add to this the Marketplace itself, though cyclists do use the Marketplace in the early a.m. when service vehicles and trucks are allowed from Pearl St to Main St.
North Avenue Plan (2014) Creates the Mold
While not intended, the North Avenue Plan (North St to Plattsburgh Ave) created the mold of how to define the role of sidewalks and bike accommodations on our City streets. With a goal of “highest safety for all modes” the Plan calls for cycle track end-end-to-end along with a separate sidewalk while employing safest-for-all-modes roundabouts at key intersections. Cycle track would be in the form of a 5 foot wide lane on each side of the Avenue with either a curb or other physical separation from the vehicle lanes.
What was not discussed by the Advisory Committee in the North Avenue plan process or the plan document was the implication that cyclists would with few exceptions would be expected to use the cycle track and the sidewalk—instead of being shared-use—becomes a dedicated pedestrian sidewalk. The term used in addition to “complete” street in accordance to the Vermont complete streets statute during the North Ave plan was “equality street.” Equality street described each mode—pedestrian, bicycle and motor vehicle—being provided its own dedicated, safe, mobility space.
So when the cycle track and roundabouts complete the renewal, nay transformation, of North Avenue the sidewalk there is no longer “shared-use” but dedicated pedestrian space with cycling mostly prohibited.
Champlain Parkway/Champlain RIGHTway and Shared-use
The grassroots Pine Street Coalition arose in 2015 while the Burlington Walk Bike Council reviewed reviewed the complete lack of basic walk and bicycle accommodation in the Champlain Parkway design. Pine Street adopted the reasoning of the Walk Bike Council and in 2016 the Walk Bike Council endorsed the Pine Street “Redesign Guidelines.”
The Pine Street design, now its “Champlain RIGHTway” (RIGHTway) design features a dedicated two-way bikeway and sidewalk from Queen City Park Rd through to Kilburn Street/Curtis Lumber, about two miles. Pine Street and the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance (VRJA) position on the current design of the Parkway is leave Pine Street from Kilburn Street to Main Street alone, and instead bypass King Maple via the railyard to Battery Street Extension, now the $20 million federally funded Rail Enterprise Project (REP). Pine Street and VJRA RIGHTway extends the sidewalk and dedicated bikeway along the REP to connect to the Bikepath at Maple St.
In addition to the dedicated bikeway, RIGHTway recommends additionally cycle track along the Parkway route.
What has not generally recognized is the RIGHTway dedicated two-way bikeway means no pedestrians! And the RIGHTway sidewalk adjacent the bikeway does not allow cyclists! This design approach copies the mold first set in the 2014 North Avenue Plan.
The RIGHTway approach follows the highest level of safety approach in the North Avenue Plan, a “complete” and “equality” for all modes street. This mirrors the new US Department of Transportation Roadway Safety System Strategy, our national Vision 0 approach to no serious and fatal injuries. The national strategy requires addressing racial and low income equity and climate change as part and parcel of safety infrastructure investments. The strategy includes a “Safe System Approach” and “Safe System Intersections” when investing in roads and streets. The point here is that the current Parkway “shared-use path” pales in comparison to a dedicated sidewalk and dedicated two-way bikeway in RIGHTway.
Pedestrian and Bicycle Classification
There is no readily available pedestrian and bicycle facility classification in general use today.
A sidewalk classification might be: Class 1—Pedestrian Only and Class 2—Pedestrian Shared Use. For cycling: Class 1—Bicyclist Only (bikeway or cycle track) and Class 2—Bicyclist Shared with pedestrians.
Intersections are critical for safety, the roundabout being the standard as it cuts serious and fatal injuries by about 90%. The only other intersection which provides equivalent safety is the all-way stop. Signals are to be considered only where a roundabout is unfeasible.
Tony Redington
Walk Safety Advocate
TonyRVT99@gmail.com
Thursday, April 14, 2022
Burlington Sidewalks are "Shared Paths"
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
Convert Most Unsafe Vermont Communuty Street to Safest with Roundabouts
September 1, 2021 Rev. 3 February 28, 2022
Convert Most Unsafe Vermont Communuty Street to Safest with Roundabouts
Historic Old North End North Street: Low Cost Conversion of the Most Unsafe and DangerouS Vermont Community Street to Vermont’s Most Safe, Low Speed, Pedestrian Friendly Street!
Summary
One thing parents well know, there is no safe route to Sustainability Academy/Barnes Elementary School along North Street in Burlington.
This policy analysis recommends mini roundabouts along Vermont’s most unsafe and dangerous street right here in Burlington—North Street from North Avenue to the west to North Union to the east with five of six cross intersections on the state’s high crash list of 111 statewide. The roundabout is the only intersection type on the Federal Highway short list of pedestrian safety “proven countermeasures.” A mini roundabout, is the most likely application in most of the North Street intersections meaning about one injury crash per intersection every few years versus 0.6 injuries per year per intersection now in the most recent tabulation. North Street roundabouts might approach the record of the other five downtown roundabouts of one injury per 50 years (half century) per intersection. And injuries at a roundabout are less severe than at signals. Right now the five high crash intersections total expanded to a decade of an estimated 32 injuries compares to one injury per decade tabulated at the five downtown roundabouts!
The five Vermont downtown roundabouts with the 52 years of data in Manchester Center {3}, Middlebury and Montpelier averaged just one injury per decade—0.8 car occupant injury, 0.2 pedestrian injury, 0.0 bike injury—none serious. Roundabouts can be expensive as costly utility work often is involved in a project unrelated to the roundabout itself. However, with mini roundabouts used where there are right-of-way constraints, a factor present on North Street, the mini can often be installed with the same safety performance of the bigger sibling for as little as $50,000. The mini roundabout cost is in the neighborhood of traffic calming. It is not far from the cost of three sets of one concrete cylinder flower pot and two white plastic stakes ($17,000) installed at several Burlington intersections. Besides you do not have to tend to the flowers at a mini roundabout!
For the historic Old North End (ONE) dating from the early 19th century, North Street remains the most active community centered street featuring numerous retail, business and institutional land uses. Sustainable Academy (Barnes) Elementary School is just a block from the now Old North End Community Center, formerly Saint Joseph’s Elementary School. A variety of restaurants, convenience stores, residential buildings, ethnic retail markets,Vantage Press, Dion Locksmith and Bissonette Properties, as well as the locked Elmwood Cemetery are all found between along North Street between North Avenue and North Union Street. As well, there are four high crash intersections—all four cross intersections located between North Avenue (west terminus of North Street) and North Union Street to the east. Of the six intersections North Avenue, Park Avenue, North Champlain Street, Elmwood, North Winooski and North Union Street are on the VTrans latest high crash intersection list—the only cross intersection along the stretch not on the State list? Elmwood/Intervale and Park Avenue both considered a problem intersection in the neighborhood.
North Street Important Demographics A key to understanding the dilemma of North Street lies in great part to the unusual demographics of Burlington. In a state with 71% of households owning their home and 29% renters, Burlington is almost the opposite 36% owning their home, 64% renter households. VT Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski and Rep. Curt McCormack who has headed the House Natural Resources and Transportation Committees represent the poorest in the City including practically all the ONE and some of King Maple neighborhoods which contain the only census tracts with excess of 80% with low and moderate incomes, King Maple with the highest concentration of persons with brown and black skins in the state—and the 30% representative district households have no car access and therefore are pedestrian and transit dependent for their transportation. The safety on streets like North Street is absolutely essential. In fact Burlington overall has 26% of its households with poverty level incomes with King Maple and ONE along with Winooski (29% of households with poverty level incomes) together representing the historic economic engine of Vermont, now a corridor of poverty. (A poor family of four means a weekly income at most of about $500.) North Street—Site of Many Injury and Non-injury Vehicle Crashes The four high crash intersections in a five year period averaged 3.8 injuries a year all four intersections in five years (19 injuries all four intersections over five years) plus 3.2 reportable fender bender crashes (“Property Damage Only” or PDO) (64 all four intersections PDO crashes in five years). See table 1. North Street clearly is a victim of the growth of the New North End (NNE) which sent increasing numbers of vehicles destined for downtown, mostly via North Ave, Park Avenue and North Champlain Street. North Winooski and North Union intersections carry the historic traffic continuing today between downtown Burlington and Winooski, a route dating from the days of Ethan and Ira Allen.
The North Winooski Avenue-Riverside Avenue was not only the Allen’s era route, it was the route of the first trolley line built in the 1880s and continued in operation until 1929. With North Street featuring four of just 111 high crash intersections in the Vermont list, clearly it is a prime candidate for being the most unsafe and dangerous community street in Vermont! ONE leaders have been concerned about safety along North Street. It was a discussion item act the Arts and Business Network ( https://www.oneabn.org/ ) several years ago but it had to wait in line for the Winooski Corridor study now completed. In 2020 a Department of Public Works draft plan included a demonstration of a mini roundabout at the high crash North St/No. Winooski Ave intersection along with a second at Decatur/No. Union/No. Winooski. That demonstration was cancelled for the current construction year from lack of funds, reportedly, and a Public Works representative said there is no consideration of a North Street corridor study.
Why Traffic Signals which Generate Crashes, Congestion and Delay? All five cross intersections along the west end of North Street (North Ave, Park Ave, North Champlain and Elmwood/Intervale, and North Winooski) are signalized while North Union is a three-way, all-way stop (North Union is one way northbound). Historically as vehicle traffic surged post World War II urban streets quickly became locations of congestion and the only choice to relieve the congestion which handled more traffic than simple signs: the now ubiquitous traffic signal. Traffic engineers had little choice as traffic increased, the traffic signal or limitless congestion and endless queues. But there was a price to shifting from signs to signals—injury crashes increase, particularly for the vulnerable—those who walk and bike—would increase as would car occupant injuries.
Prime factors in increased injuries and crashes—signals versus all way stop intersections, for example—include higher speeds of vehicles traveling through on green and vehicle which fail to stop which cause, for example, the deadly T-bone crash. For pedestrians the high speeds at signals contribute to the 20% higher pedestrian casualty rate at signals versus all-way stop control and equally safe roundabouts (source, FHWA). So, careful protocols were established to minimize the tradeoff of safety and mobility, called signal “warrants.” This was the status of traffic management until the advent of the modern roundabout which began to make its appearance in the United States (and Vermont) in the 1990s, getting its start in 1966 in the U.K. While slow to become the standard it is today, NY State Department of Transportation and two Canadian Provincial Ministries of Transport (British Columbia and Alberta), for examples adopted regulatory “roundabouts first” policies between 2005 (NY) and 2010. A U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) definitive study in 2001 determined American roundabouts cut serious and fatal injuries by “about 90%.”
A half century of Vermont downtown roundabouts found a single pedestrian injury (not serious), four non-serious car occupant injuries and 0 bicyclist injuries. Consider the five injuries in a half century of service for downtown Vermont roundabouts versus four North Street intersections generating 3.8 injuries a year! As important the stunning tabulation this year of record of now 9,000 roundabouts in US and Canada has yet to experience a single pedestrian death on a marked roundabout crosswalk! This compares to Burlington during just the the 1998-2020 period at just 75 signalized intersections, 2 pedestrian hit in crosswalks were killed (Barrett St crossing at Dominos and Shelburne Street crosswalk at Home Ave).
As important, Burlington, Vermont and the nation have been falling behind in road safety to a terrible degree. When the first roundabout in the US was built in 1990, the US and UK were safest in road fatalities per mile of travel in the world—UK still remains at the top—while the US has dropped to 18th with 21,000 pandemic level of excess road deaths yearly. Even in covid 2020 when travel miles dropped 12%, fatalities per mile of travel increased 8%! As concerning is the trend since 2010 in pedestrian deaths—up 50% with Hispanics 50% more likely to die per population than white, Black people almost twice that of white-non-Hispanic.
The two Burlington pedestrian deaths during 2010-2021 (and continuing in 2021) contributed to the upturn in national pedestrian deaths—up 46% in the latest reports. The US Congress, states’ transportation departments and metropolitan planning organizations like Vermont single one, Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) are well aware of the dismal road death pandemic and in 2013 U.S. laws required all federally funded highway projects to reduce fatal and serious injuries, mandating state and CCRPC to adopt five year objectives for reductions, revised during subsequent five year intervals. Unfortunately for Federal Highway Administration as well as most states and metros (including VTrans and CCRPC) with about two years of the first five year reduction targets in face of the surge of deaths and serious injuries in 2020 while vehicle miles declined 13%, most all will likely fail their first five year targets!
Note that all neutral and advocate groups for safety—American Automobile Association (AAA), American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and GEICO—have as first on their list or near the top of actions for safety, the installation of roundabouts and conversion of existing traffic signals to roundabouts. The new Vermont road death factor: an estimated 22 deaths per year from long term exposure to allowed tailpipe admissions. While road fatalities in recent years about 60 per year, we have learned recently in University of North Carolina research that there is another set of road deaths directly related to long term exposure to tailpipe emissions. ( https://ie.unc.edu/2021/06/08/new-study-identifies-leading-source-of-health-damages-from-vehicle-pollution-in-12-states-and-washington-d-c ). As a summary of the report states: “states experienced substantial health impacts from vehicle emissions and can gain health benefits from local action.” The recent study involving a number of northeastern US state identified the numbers by state and the annual loss of life in Vermont, 22 deaths, expands the annual Vermont road death number by about a third to about 80 deaths yearly.
While electric cars, hopefully, will be the dominant vehicle type years from now, certainly for a generation the long term deaths from internal combustion cars will continue to exact a toll on Vermonters. It is very likely that built up urban areas—like Burlington’s ONE and King Maple neighborhoods—with congestion and vehicle delay causes a higher level of long term exposure fatalities than living and/or working in a country setting in Charlotte. Since roundabouts cut intersection emissions from vehicles up to one third, the roundabout aids in reducing the pollution load to residents and workers in our admittedly congested city streets.
An Affordable Investment Quickly Makes North Street a Model of a Safe Community Street —Applying the lessons learned from the AARP Vermont Pine Street Workshop (2014) and Environmental Justice Process in the Champlain Parkway (2019 to date)
First and foremost the North Street intersections in question are best served by roundabouts, likely a mini roundabout like Vermont’s first and only one in Manchester Center. The mini roundabout has the same, or even better, safety record for all modes. Second, any consideration of roundabouts along North Street needs to have all six intersections evaluated in a reasonably short corridor study—the study is not to make signals better, it is to establish roundabout feasibility and utilize experienced (read national practitioners) as part of the consultant team. Actual design of roundabouts for the corridor could be done in a matter of weeks, certainly within a 12-month period.
An analysis of 5-year and 1-year injury and "Property Damage Only" (PDO) crashes at the five North Street intersections is instructive. This can be calculated easily from the 5-year recent VTrans High Crash Location Report series, 2012-2016. The cost of a fatality used is $1.5 million, $88,500 for an injury and $11,300 for a PDO. Since mini roundabouts are cheap, crash cuts and injury cuts (72% injury cuts alone) with an overall well over $1 million for all five intersections in a year more than covers the five intersections made walkable and safe! This ignores the real benefits of tens of thousands of hours of reduced vehicle and pedestrian delay (real dollars for business trip delay), stress on all users, and increased economic activity enabled for nearby businesses. Add to this the traffic signal caused excessive climate heating emissions and the now known 25 yearly estimated Vermont deaths from a lifetime of vehicle exhaust pollutants.
Table 1: Vermont Agency of Transportation High Crash Location Report 2012-2016 Data on the Five North Street Burlington State High Crash Intersections
#23 [Place on list of 111 Vermont high crash intersection list—1 worst, 111 least worst] North St/North Champlain St 0.220 [intersection name and milepost] 5 years/21 crashes/5 injuries/17 PDO [years of data recorded, total crashes, total injuries, property only crashes {PDO}] ($30,219–estimated cost per crash); Total Crashes (per year): 21(4.25); Total estimated crash cost for 5 years: $635,000 ($126,900 per year)
#40 Park St/North St 0.280 5 years/19 crashes/4 injuries/16 PDO ($28,147\–estimated cost per crash); Total Crashes (per year): 19 (3.8); Total estimated crash cost for 5 years: $535,000 ($107,000 per year)
#46 North Winooski (Alternate 7)/North St 1.620 5 years/19 crashes/3 injuries/16 PDO ($23,489–estimated cost per crash); Total Crashes (per year): 19 (3.8); Total estimated crash cost for 5 years: $446,000_($89,200 per year)
#87 North Union St/North St 0.300 5 years/15 crashes/0 injuries/15 PDO (3-way-stop) ($11,300–estimated cost per crash) Total Crashes (per year): 15 (3.0); Total estimated crash cost for 5 years: $170,000_($34,000 per year)
#110 North Ave/North St 0.180 5 years/20 crashes/4 injuries/17 PDO ($27,305 estimated cost per crash) Total Crashes (per year): 20 (4.0); Total estimated crash cost for 5 years: $546,100 ($109,220 per year)
Cost really is not a significant factor as roundabouts at the five high crash intersections would certainly reduce crash/injury costs by about half in a five year period, a $2,177,000 value based on half the total cost estimates, above. A set of roundabouts would likely cost as little as $50,000 each, certainly far less than $2,177,000 million. As analyzed elsewhere a roundabout replacing a high crash intersection on the 20 Burlington intersections in the VTrans list would conservatively result in one less injury per year, a saving of $88,500 and two less PDO crashes, a saving of $22,600—or $111,100 per converted intersection per year. An installation of a mini roundabout on a high crash North Street intersection would easily be paid for in savings in about a year, assuming about $50,000 base cost for a roundabout. Some of those savings are to police department costs of incident management, reports, etc., and other City savings include the trips by emergency equipment and personnel to crashes and then to UVMMC.
Table 2: Summary Data on All Five North Street High Crash intersections (2012-2016)
Total Crashes 90 total all five intersections:
18.0 crashes per year all five intersections
3.6 crashes per intersection per year —16 injuries in five years, 3.2 injuries per year all five intersections, 0.64 injuries per year per intersection
84 property damage only (PDO) crashes, 16.8 PDO crashes per year all five intersection, 3.4 per PDO crash per intersection per year
Total estimated crash cost for 5 years all four intersections: $2,177,000 ($435,000 per year), $87,000 per intersection per year
Note: There are many crashes involving no injury which never “reportable,” i.e., never enter the crash counts by police departments and the state. If estimated total crash is $3,000 or below, no reports are necessary.
Tony Redington February 28, 2022 TonyRVT99@gmail.com
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
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
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
Tabulated Burlington Intersections—19 signalized, 1 3-way stop control
#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