Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

And then people will be able to find the same information. So thanks for joining. We're here to talk about Maplewood trace and the traffic calming project on Maplewood. And I am Amy Birch. I'm a traffic engineer and consultant that works and assist in dot to facilitate the traffic calming program. And I'm going to talk about our agenda items here. We are going to go over overview, discuss some data and issues on your street specifically and some solutions. We'll talk about the traffic calming toolbox that we have within the program. And then I have a preliminary design concept that we've developed based on, you know, studying your street, Maplewood Terrace. And then we'll talk about the next steps in the project. Okay. QR code here is the same QR code that was on the postcard mailer. And what it does is it links you to a series of project pages on Metro's website. And Maplewood Trace is one of those projects. You can scroll down and find that and provide feedback for the project. Okay. What is traffic calming? This is the neighborhood street traffic calming program, and it focuses on residential streets like yours. And what we're doing is implementing physical solutions that encourage lower speeds over the length of the street. We're specifically targeting speed reduction with the tools that we have. We are working under a safe systems approach and how traffic calming relates to that safe system approach. essentially trying to use several different mechanisms to achieve safer streets, and that being safer speeds, traffic calming targets, those slower speeds to improve the overall safety of a street. We're working towards safer roads with the street design and encouraging safer driver behavior by all road users and then safer people. These designs through the Traffic Calming Program help drivers and pedestrians and cyclists stay aware and alert of each other so they can share the street and facility. And then, um, addressing the post crash care, uh, part of a safe system approach, you know, we believe these measures, or they avoid impeding emergency vehicle response. Um. With, uh, with. This safety, we want to show this safety and correlation between a pedestrian's chance of survival and speed with this slide. So this infographic is showing on the left that at a driver speed of 25 miles per hour, if a pedestrian is struck by that vehicle, Um, they have an 89% chance of survival as speed goes up. The chance of survival goes down. So, up to 35 miles per hour survivor rate goes down to 68%. And at 45 miles per hour, the pedestrians chance of survival goes down to 35%. So, um, you know, we're really through this program, trying to target, like, slower speeds, safer roads. Really? And I think it's pretty, um. evident that there's a close correlation between speed and the severity of a crash. And also, I'd like to point out that as drivers drive at slower speeds, they actually have a greater chance of avoiding a collision altogether. Um, you know, at a slower speed, you have a wider cone of vision, so you can see what may be approaching the roadway. Um, you have a longer time that you can slow down and stop and avoid avoid a crash altogether, whether that be with a pedestrian. A pet another vehicle cyclist, so all good reasons to drive at those slower speeds, especially on, um. Really all of our roads, but we're specifically targeting residential streets with this program. So this is a neighborhood street application program. So we have a pretty high demand of requests for traffic calming within the program. As of last spring, when Maplewood Trace was selected, we had over or about 650 neighborhood streets that are applied for traffic calming. And we have a process to determine which streets are selected. and the number of streets selected is essentially based on funding that's allocated through the Nashville Department of Transportation as well as council. This map is a snapshot from our online tracker map in such that you can see where a street had Is within the program, whether it's been applied for selected, completed in the meeting and phase process and so forth. So that's just to give you an idea of all the streets that have applied for traffic. I do want to make sure that anyone that's participating and watching this later knows about the hub. Hub Nashville is an excellent tool that Metro has for citizens to be able to make service requests and it gets the need request question to the right department, the right person that can help resolve. So it's easily accessed by dialing 311. Monday through Friday, 8 to 5, there's an app that you can download to your smartphone. You can also access it online at hub.nashville.gov. But it's not just NDOT. It's all Metro departments. So it's a great tool to know about. All right, so I'm going to talk more about our prioritization and traffic calming now, because I told you, you know, we have a big demand and request for traffic calming across the whole city county. And, you know, we have to allocate the funding to the streets that have the greatest need. And we do that through this prioritization methodology. And what we do is we collect the. Data on every street that has requested traffic calming and then. And it's allocated through as shown in this pie chart here to the right, but there's criteria that we're looking at. We compare the vehicular speed to our. Desired speed of 25 miles per hour and we compare the 85th percentile speed that we measure on the street. And then that's worth 45% of the score. We're also looking at the daily volume of traffic on, um, on the street and that's worth 25% of the score. We look at, um. Trip destination, so are there schools, libraries, parks, community centers near the street where. In which we would expect pedestrians and cyclists and those that live on the street to be using the street to go to and from those destinations. That's worth 5% of the score and then, um. Non driver accommodations, we look at whether there are sidewalks on the street bikeways on the street greenways nearby bus routes nearby. And that is worth 15% of the score. And we're also looking back over the course of the past 10 years to find out whether there's been a pedestrian or cyclist injury or fatality on the street. And so that's worth 10% of the score. So every street that applies gets scored and those that score with the highest number of points are the ones that are selected within the number of streets that we have budgeted for, usually 25. So I want to give you some data points about Maplewood Trace because we're talking about Maplewood Trace between Dickerson Pike and Walton Lane, as you know. And so we measured the 85th percentile speed on Maplewood Trace to be 42 miles per hour. The 85th percentile speed is a term that in a data point that we traffic engineers often reference. It gives us a good understanding of what the kind of prevailing speeds on the street are. But what it essentially means is that 85% of the traffic that we measured over the course of a day is going that speed or below. But it means that 15% of the traffic measured was actually going above 42 miles per hour. So quite fast for a short street. And the volume we measured at almost 2,000 vehicles per day, that's the two-way volume of directions of travel. And then the street width kind of varies throughout the length of the street. There is central striping. There is, you're very lucky to have a complete sidewalk on the north side of the street. And there's some partial sidewalk on the south side of the street. So that sidewalk, I know is pretty new. Last few years installed. So that's, that's really nice. Uh, here's our location map, uh, so it's less than a half mile section, um, and, and, uh, North is up on this map, but this is, uh, just showing it's going between Dickerson Pike and, uh, Walton Lane right next to, uh, Maplewood High School. And then I'm going to go into our toolkit, talk about, um, the tools that we use within this program. Some are. applicable to your street uh some are not but we do like to you know use this opportunity to educate people on on these traffic calming tools and um so our first one that we're going to show is the one that's probably used the most often um and then the speed cushions i know these are already installed on walton lane uh right nearby so you're probably familiar with speed cushions they are rubberized devices and um We like them because they are modular and so we can form and fit them in different configurations depending on what the characteristics of that particular street are, how wide it is, what the pavement markings are. We can kind of match that or incorporate that into the speed cushion layout. The unique thing about the cushions are that they have these gaps between that you see in these pictures that show that allow for the emergency vehicle response vehicles to straddle them because your ambulances and fire trucks, they have a slightly wider wheelbase than a passenger car pickup truck. And so they are able to straddle them and so not be as impacted or impeded by having to slow down to traverse over them. So that's one reason why NDOT likes this type of tool. And so like I said, they have like different markings on them, depending on what the striping pattern on the street is. We will also pair them with warning signs to make sure the drivers see them as they approach, even at night and so forth. We will sometimes incorporate some white delineator posts with them when they may be adjacent to a bike lane. And so we don't want to extend the cushion into the bike lane. but we don't want to allow for drivers to try to circumvent the cushion and go around. So we'll incorporate some of those type of strategies to keep drivers in their lane so that they are slowing down as they drive through. We have a few things that we need to pay attention to when we're laying out a street design with speed cushions. One is that we usually put these in a series Meaning, like, we'll space them apart somewhere between 300 to 600 feet spacing. And that is so that we get a more consistent speed along the length of the street. And. If we just placed 1 set of cushions in the middle of the street, um. We would expect drivers to continue their speeding where the cushions are not present, maybe slow down abruptly to traverse over the cushion and then pick their speed back up and even try and make up time or something if there's not another set a little bit further down from them. We're paying attention to our spacing. We do have some limitations on where we can place them. We don't place them in the middle of an intersection, of course. We also are not placing them too close to driveways so that that becomes cumbersome for a resident turning in and out of their driveway. So we're spacing them away from driveways. We also can't put them on steep grades. or sharp curves. So those things kind of factor into how we lay out a plan. Speed tables are similar to the cushions because they're made of the same material, but they stretch across the whole width of the street as opposed to having the gaps for the emergency vehicles to traffic. We use these less frequently. And that has recently done a big before after study of 38 projects across the city that have been installed. And as. We suspected the states have generally decreased quite a bit and the average. That we would expect speeds to decrease has been about 9 miles per hour across those. those streets that we've done them before after study. So they are effective in achieving our goal of reducing speeds. Another tool we use that you may have seen around the city are radar feedback signs that they essentially show drivers their speed as they approach the sign. They're usually paired with the speed limit sign and provides a good reminder for drivers. Sometimes we just, as drivers don't realize, how fast we're going and that we're going over the speed limit. So it's a reminder and those conscientious drivers will typically slow down when they see those. And we've done some before after studies of those and found that the 85th percentile speed generally reduced by about seven miles per hour. Another tool that's used some is narrowing using pavement markings and that is shown in this picture where we had like a wide street and. Really don't need all that extra payment with and so using some edge lines can visually narrow the travel way for vehicles. It also kind of creates a shoulder that can be more comfortable for pedestrians that are having to use the street. And a step above that is a slow, safer shoulder where we might incorporate more paint, but also create a buffer with flexible delineator posts like you see in this picture that creates a wider shoulder. We want to. And usually that's just on one side. That might be all the width we have to work with to create it on one side. But, you know, this can affect on street parking. It generally requires at least 24 feet of pavement width to create this slower, safer shoulder. That's another tool. And it also then narrows the width for the drivers as well. So they kind of slow down as as well. Full outs are another tool typically more used in urban settings where we'll take a wide intersection and use paint striping to tighten the radiuses of the corners of an intersection like you see in these images to, you know, Try to slow turning speeds at the intersection. We essentially shrink the intersection. It also shortens the pedestrian crossing distances for drivers. And this is done with this linear post paint markings, or a little speed bump in the area that drivers are not supposed to drive in any longer. Chicanes are another tool. This is also done with. Lane markings, usually with alternating parking on the street from side to side, and it creates some lane shifting and curvature in a street that's otherwise straight. That achieves some slowing from drivers because they need to slow down to stay in their lane as they divert along this traveling path. Uh, pinch points are a tool that, um. We've used through the program and essentially we're creating these islands in the street that narrows a 2 way street for a brief section and a pinch point to 1 lane of traffic. So opposing traffic has to yield flow through this area. They yield to oncoming traffic and and so they slow down as they drive through it. If it's. even if they're not opposing traffic, they still need to slow down to kind of navigate through this pinch point zone. And then our last tool that we use are traffic circles. This is a recent installation of one in South Nashville where We've created a central island in the middle of an intersection. It kind of behaves like a roundabout, but on a much smaller scale. This is also a treatment that is typically added to a pretty wide intersection. I don't think we have any scenarios like that on that would be appropriate on Maplewood trace, but you may encounter these as you drive through Nashville. So slow down.

That's right.

Right. So now I'm going to show our proposed concept plan for Maplewood trace. This is a. you know, concept level. We typically will put this together, get some feedback during a meeting like this, and then we'll go put together a more detailed plan taking in the feedback that we get during the meeting. But to orient you, North is up on the plan. Maplewood High School is over here on the right side of the plan. And then in Walton Lane, of course. And then Dickerson Pike is on the left side. of this slide and these are showing approximate locations of where we would put speed cushion sets and they would look fairly similar to this image at the top of the page inset into the concept plan. So it would come with signs with the plan and one cushion essentially in each lane. And so the average spacing is about 385 feet between cushions, which is right around what we typically are targeting in that spacing. So that works out to be five sets of cushions along the length. I know there's some hill, slight hill around in the middle of the street we're mindful of as we put these in. That is what we have proposed. So I think I'll pause, see if you have any questions or comments.

I don't have any questions or comments.

All right. All right. I know we talked before we started that you were supportive of the cushions. Yes. And you've experienced them nearby because they are installed on Walton Lane. I think there's three sets right on Walton Lane. Yes. That's cool. All right, so, um, what we will, uh, so I want to talk about our flow chart. So, you know, we can kind of get into our next steps. What what comes next? But, um, just to back up, like I said, this is an application program. So application was applied for for maple wood trays based on that prioritization and selection process. It was selected. Now we're in our neighborhood meeting phase. That's highlighted in red and presented our concept. We're going to talk more about next steps here, give you all that information. From here, we will go put together a more detailed design that will do our field review and It then we put together the design that is essentially what the contractor would use to install the project. So it would be essentially ready for for installation. However, There is a voting process that goes along with this program to demonstrate that there's a desire for the traffic common project to be installed. And I have some detailed slides about that. But essentially, if 66% of the people that vote on the project vote favorably for it, then then end up will proceed with moving it into the construction phase. Um. We sometimes need a second meeting. For these projects, I don't know that we will in this case, but it's always it's an option. Sometimes we show a proposed plan and get some feedback that that's not really what they had in mind. They saw something else in the toolbox. They'd rather us do if it's possible. So, you know, if that is the case, we will usually do a 2nd meeting, which is adds a little bit more time to the project, but not not too much. Um, I don't think we need that, uh, in this case. Um, so I want to be very specific about the balancing process, because this is how in dot, you know, is, um. You know, learning that their support for the project. Uh, so what we do is we send postcard mailers, um, when the project is ready to go to ballot and be voted on. Um, and so that those, uh, mailers go out, the postcard will have a unique ID on, um. On the, uh, postcard here, and it will, uh, that will help us make sure that we don't have duplicate votes that, um. know would skew the results we we want to make sure we're um you know verifying that so we have a unique id It's open for six weeks. The date that the ballot closes will be on the postcard as well. So when you get that in the mailbox, you know when it's going to close. But I encourage you to do it right away. Six weeks, surprisingly, goes by fast. But you can access the ballot through this QR code or typing in the web address just below the QR code. And so the respondents have an opportunity to vote yes or no for the project. So, if 66% of the respondents vote yes, then the project moves forward. So, I want to be clear that it's not. 66% of the. Properties on the street while we would love for that to happen, because we. really want everyone to know about the project, be engaged with it and vote. You know, sometimes that's just not the case that we can get that much voter turnout. So it's the 66% of the respondents or more vote yes, then the project moves forward. So when you get your ballot postcard in the mail, you know, Go do your voting online and then talk to your neighbors and make sure they saw theirs and they got and they're doing their voting as well. On the postcard, there's also a phone number to reach in dots project manager. If someone needs help voting online for whatever reason, you know, that does happen. If anyone is doing that, they may need to leave a message and get a call back and some assistance there. Okay. I think there was one other thing I wanted to mention about the postcard. Maybe it's on the next slide. I think that's it. Oh, and the plans will be sorry, the plans will be posted online prior to the postcards being mailed out. So, that gets this and doesn't know about the project. They can at least click on the, the plans link and view the plan. So they know what they're voting. Yes or no on.

Okay.

All right, and, um. This is the ballot zone, uh, essentially. So it's the properties that abut the right-of-way. And it's residential properties, churches and schools and nonprofits get one vote. So only properties that like touch the right-of-way are eligible to vote. And then homeowners or owners that have multiple properties get one vote, not multiple votes. And then vacant properties are not eligible. Businesses are not eligible to vote. And so this probably works out to be 30 eligible properties on the street. So we'd love to have all 30 vote. So, you know, do what you can to talk to your neighbors when the time comes to make sure that they're looking in their mailbox for their postcard. But if you... you or any of your neighbors believe they should have gotten a card, didn't, or thought it was junk mail and tossed it, they can reach out to NDOT to get help to vote because we want people to have that opportunity and be engaged. So I'm showing here my name and contact information. As well as in dot email address for this traffic common program. Okay. And then this QR code here and web address is the same from our, I think slide 2 that links to the engaged Nashville page, which has the project page specific for maple wood trace. And so once. We keep that updated with, like, we'll have a link to this meeting recording on the page. So. After the fact, if people miss the meeting this evening, they can go find the same information there. We'll update the results of the ballot when that time comes. We won't share individual votes, of course, but just what percentage voted in favor of the project. So then that's where you can find information as the project progresses. Exactly. And you can also provide some feedback in the meantime. And we've already received some feedback through this Engage Nashville page. I think people visited it, have visited it as they received the postcard for the meeting. And so that's a good place to give us some feedback, especially if you're watching this meeting after the fact and weren't able to join tonight. NDOT has a traffic calming page. It's called, it's trafficcalming.nashville.gov. And that's where we have a lot of information about the program itself. Our tracker map is there. The information about our toolbox and measures that we use is there. All of our plans are posted on this website. The meeting recordings are there. So, you know, if you're not looking, on your specific project page, you might be able to find that information here as well. And all of our social channels are here shown at Nashville DOT. It's a good way to follow along with all the things that NDOT is doing. And so I think I'll kind of pause and wrap up here. I think I heard positive feedback for the concept we put together and showed, so I think our Our steps on our side is to go to our field work and finalize the design. And I think we could move straight into the ballot. And unless you would like us to have another meeting, all the information will be posted. And so what we'll do is alert you and your council member that the ballot is being sent out so that you know when to be really looking for it in your mailbox. And then the neighbors about it.

Does that sound good? Sounds great.

All right. Yeah, we did find quite a bit of speeding on Maplewood Trace. And I think that this plan that we've- I know, I'm scared to walk my dog.

I'm scared to walk my dog.

Please stay on the sidewalk.

As best you can look, I'm scared they might jump the sidewalk sometimes. I'm talking about maybe I'll be sitting on my porch. Sometimes I'll be like. What's wrong with these people?

Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, the data shows that speeding. So I think we can, we can certainly help with some. speed reduction with these measures, speed cushions that we've shown. So I think it'll be about two months we'll get the design done and send the ballots out and I'll be in touch with our applicant and council members to just give that heads up.

Okay. All right. Well, thank you so very much.

Appreciate your time this evening. We'll close out the meeting. I'm gonna stop our recording.