Stuck on sidewalk survey

1st Ave and 13th St E.: What would make this feel safer?

Cedar Rapids is surveying its residents about walking, particularly about crossing streets. After a series of questions about walking habits, the survey presented eight types of intersection modifications (see below); for each they asked whether it would make crossing the street very comfortable, comfortable, uncomfortable, or very uncomfortable. The treatments ranged in intensity from minor (well-marked crosswalks) to major (median island). 

I spent way too much time over-thinking this section. I couldn't decide on the meaning of "comfortable," or whether it was absolute or relative, or even whether the comfort was intended to be physical or psychic. Was it time-bound? (Many's the time I've gotten across a busy street and thought, "Twenty years from now, I won't be able to do what I just did.") City staff will surely want to ignore my answers when they compile these results.

In the end, I decided, my pedestrian comfort, and the appropriate design response, depends on context. How wide and busy is the street I am crossing? How many people are likely to be crossing with me? Are the drivers likely to be aware of my presence, or will their views be obstructed by a physical barrier or confusing road design? And maybe most importantly, how much turning traffic is there going to be?

(1 & 2) Median islands, curb extensions

I live about 3/4 mile from my office, and often walk regardless of weather. The biggest challenge is crossing 1st Avenue, the east side's longstanding thoroughfare (pictured above). At 13th Street, across from the college, the street is six lanes wide (indicated by hashtags): two traffic lanes in each direction, and two left-turn lanes. Coe College students frequently cross here, so during the school year we can usually cross in a group. Thanks to curb extensions on each side--see my lovely highlighting on the photo--we're negotiating 60 feet of pavement instead of 80, but it's still fraught. The biggest problem is the number of cars that turn left from 13th onto 1st, which was increased by the closing of 2nd Avenue some years ago. 2013 traffic count on 13th Street was a mere 1840, but they make their presences felt. Some drivers are patient, some are not, and they demonstrate different levels of risk-taking. The dangers of this intersection would be somewhat mitigated by making a median island out of one of the left-turn lanes, which became redundant as soon as Interstate 380 was built in the 1970s.

I can't off hand think of any other intersections in our town where median islands are indicated. This one is unusual because of the width of the street, the amount of turning traffic, and the amount of pedestrian traffic. Maybe 1st Avenue and 12th Street East?

This is also by Coe, although I don't see students using it as much as locals going to and from the clinics. Traffic count on 12th is 3200, with most turning onto 1st across the crosswalks.

(3) Raised crosswalks

This feature not only removes the "step down, step up" feature of crossing, it makes the pedestrians more visible to drivers by raising them. David Sucher (2003: 80) notes, "The extra six inches of height makes the walker more visible to drivers, particularly if one uses a pavement of contrasting texture and color. The change of grade is also a long-wave speed hump, which forces the driver to slow down to avoid an unpleasant bump." This picture of Novak School on busy 29th Avenue was taken in Marion...

...but there are any number of Cedar Rapids schools near which we could do a better job of slowing the cars and facilitating the little pedestrians.

(4 & 5) Beacons (red and yellow hybrid, rectangular rapid flashing)

There are a couple rectangular rapid flashing beacons around town that I know of. This one is on the Cedar River Trail where it crosses Boyson Road...

 

...an arterial carrying 11,500 cars per day. I think I'm OK with this, because Boyson is only two lanes wide and pedestrians and cyclists are quite visible from the road.

On the other hand, this one terrifies me. It's downtown, where the Cedar River Trail crosses 1st Avenue. 

 

It's not just the 13,600-16,600 cars, it's the five lanes I'm crossing, and my relative invisibility when I cross. The crosswalk is well-marked but it isn't helping my comfort, either. Drivers are dealing with each other, the railroad track, and possibly unfamiliar downtown traffic patterns. This crossing needs, to be viable, a stop light. Is that what the red and yellow hybrid beacons amount to? Meanwhile I either go over to 3rd Street, or cower in the shadows and wait for a break in traffic.

(6) Brick intersection

This is more involved (read, more expensive) than painted crosswalks, but might be indicated where there is a lot of vehicular as well as pedestrian traffic, and/or where we want to exhibit some style. Sucher (2003: 84) says, "The change in texture is a visual and visceral signal to both driver and pedestrian of the appropriate boundaries for each at that particular location." A candidate for this treatment was 3rd Avenue and 10th Street SE, an intersection I've had plenty of opportunity to contemplate as it's been my station during three Mayors' Bike Rides. 

View of Immaculate Conception Church before sidewalk treatments

The "after" picture

10th Street gets 3000 cars a day, 3rd Avenue 6000, magnified by both streets being four lanes wide. MedQuarter development might increase auto traffic and maybe pedestrian traffic, too.

Crosswalks (well-marked along a busy street, long well-marked)

These are the lowest intensity treatments, and I don't understand the difference between them. They can be used where crossing treatments are indicated but traffic is moving slowly enough that you don't need any kind of special enhancement. I'd like one where I (and quite a few high school students) cross 19th Street near my home.

Asked for concluding comments, I reflected on my spring semester in Washington, D.C., a densely-populated urban area with a lot of pedestrians and autos and bikes.

Collins Road NE by Lindale Mall

1. Triage: Don't try to fix every intersection. Concentrate our resources where they can do the most good i.e. not Collins Road or Wiley Boulevard.
2.  Stops: Washington, D.C. has a lot of stop signs and stop lights in core areas. They certainly seem to keep auto speeds to a manageable level. I'm glad 3rd Avenue SE will soon be converted to two-way, but its long straightaway still encourages drivers to go faster than they neighborhood should have to tolerate.
3. Parking: Surface parking lots are the enemy of walkability (cf. Sucher 2003: 49-55, or really any author who's thought seriously about cities). Areas adjacent to downtown, and you know who you are, are maximizing parking in ways that will impact both walking and the success of downtown.

Finally the survey asked for three words to describe my hopes for walking in 2040. I said I hoped walking will be (1) common, (2) interesting, and (3) safe.

Cedar Rapids residents can take the Pedestrian Master Plan Survey here through 7/22/2018. There will be a Community Workshop on Sidewalks Wednesday 6/27/2018 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Cedar Rapids Public Library, 450 5th Av SE.

SEE ALSO:
David Sucher, City Comforts: How to Build an Urban Village (City Comforts Inc., revised ed., 2003), ch. 4
Aarian Marshall, "Save Lives With Slower Streets--Not Self-Driving Cars," Wired, 11 May 2018