Developing a Tool for Designing Safer Streets in Southeast Michigan

Developing a Tool for Designing Safer Streets in Southeast Michigan

MKSK

An innovative tool that assists communities in achieving goals of safe, multimodal, and well-designed streets by prioritizing and designing for different modes of travel.

Communities across the country are increasingly recognizing the benefits of transportation networks that are safe, convenient, and affordable for people of all ages and abilities; however, there are often conflicts between the needs for the various users or “modes”: automobiles, trucks, pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit. New types of mobility – scooters, e-bikes, and autonomous vehicles – have added another layer of complexity to our streets. Many cities and agencies are having broader conversations about accommodating the heightened needs for non-motorized travel as well as promoting economic development, livability, sustainability, and equity of communities.

Techniques such as road diets, lane repurposing, roadway conversions, and traffic calming are examples of how transportation and street design can transform streets to serve other modes of transportation, in addition to automobiles. MKSK, along with transportation engineers Fehr & Peers, has been working with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) to prepare a user-friendly tool that communities can use to identify multi-modal opportunities and modal priorities in their road networks. This tool will guide communities in identifying gaps in the function of their transportation network, determining priorities among modes of travel, and setting a vision to balance the needs of the community.

MKSK along with staff from MDOT, SEMCOG, and Fehr & Peers, presented a webinar sponsored by Smart Growth America that explains how to use the Tool. You can view the presentation here or by clicking on the image below.

Lane repurposing (or a road diet) can provide many benefits on roads with safety concerns or excess capacity. Driving lanes can be converted to a different use such as wider sidewalks, bike lanes, or a safer two-way center left turn lane or median. Side or parallel streets might be best for some modes of travel. Conversion studies also need to evaluate how travel may change elsewhere on the street network.

MDOT and SEMCOG have been engaged by several Michigan cities who are considering improving the function and design of their streets. In the past, MDOT has successfully used its Road Diet Checklist on state routes statewide, but the process can take up to three years and involve significant computer modeling. Communities in Southeast Michigan desire a more streamlined process that reflects the variety of situations, which may have more tolerance for a lower vehicle LOS (like D, E, or even F), and a greater demand for non-motorized travel and transit.

This new tool provides a series of online maps that identify different types of travel networks in the region, a set of context typologies that illustrate how land use and development patterns can impact transportation needs, a menu of criteria to evaluate needs, a cross section tool to mock street designs with typical street components, and a series of case studies.

The new Multimodal Tool helps communities…

  • Address growing competition between travel modes for limited space within the right-of-way.

  • Explain how different land use contexts may help identify the preferred modes and that those preferences may vary along a single corridor.

  • Realize the priorities for different travelers, using web-based tools.

  • Identify where there may be opportunities to repurpose a lane and how that repurposing may be designed, using different options of cross sections that fit the character of the street.

  • Gives the user dropdown menu options to evaluate both existing and aspirational conditions of roadways and different possible modes of transportation.

  • Provides a User Guide that explains how to use the Tool.

In addition, the User Guide also provides a menu of possible implementation strategies, including a temporary demonstration that tests a concept, a lower-cost change using paint and signs, or a higher-cost change during a roadway reconstruction project, such as relocating the curbs.

Stakeholders from MDOT and across the region provided feedback as the Tool was developed. Best practices were studied and incorporated, such as the lessons learned from Florida DOT and their Lane Repurposing Guide. Once the tool was developed, it was tested by representatives of communities of various scales, including a rural hamlet, a small town, a suburban corridor, and a major regional state route. Those tests served as case studies to demonstrate the value of the new tool and further refine the User Guide to become more intuitive. The User Guide will continue to be updated with new case studies.

You can learn more at The Smart Growth America webinar featuring this Multimodal Tool. If you want to learn more, reach out to Brad Strader who leads MKSK’s Transportation Planning Studio.

Want to Learn Even More?

Interested in using a multimodal approach when you prepare or require a traffic impact study? MKSK has worked with the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) to update the Recommended Practice on Multimodal Transportation Impact Assessments. This manual describes how to expand a Traffic Impact Study into a Multimodal Transportation Impact Study that comprehensively considers pedestrians, bicyclists, transit, trucks, and new mobility options. Several cities that we work in have upgraded their study protocols to incorporate the Best Practices recommended by ITE. A copy of the manual is available on the ITE website. MKSK is currently assisting ITE in drafting an updated manual, which has gone through a peer review process and is now in its final stages of development. If you want to know more, contact Brad Strader, Principal Planner and leader of our Transportation Planning Studio.