Agenda - Public Works Committee - 11/16/2021

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Public Works Committee 5. 5. Meeting Date: 11/16/2021 By: Grant Riemer, Engineering/Public Works Title: Properly Evaluating Existing and Proposed Crosswalk Improvements Purpose/Background: Purpose: Review criteria for crosswalk locations and what level of treatment should be recommended. Background: Many factors go into the installation of a crosswalk, with a request from residents, normally in the form of a petition, being the first step. The next step would be for staff to gather information on the location to see if and what kind of crosswalk would best suit the situation. Staff would gather information on traffic counts, speed, stopping sight distances for vehicles, number of pedestrians using crosswalk, distance and number of traffic lanes, accident review and LOS (level of service.) Timeframe: 15 minutes Observations/Alternatives: As stated earlier many factors go into determining if a crosswalk is necessary at a given location and if so what type of crosswalk should be used. Vehicle speed is a primary factor for crosswalks at uncontrolled locations. 40 mph is the highest recommended speed. Any speed higher than 40 mph and guidelines suggest you use pedestrian hybrid beacons, pedestrian traffic signals, or grade separated crossings. The city of Ramsey has several crosswalks located on Alpine Dr where the speed limit is 45 mph. Though not ideal, traffic volume is low for the most part, allowing large gaps in traffic for people to cross. Another factor is visibility for both pedestrians and motorists. Is there adequate distance for the motorist to see a pedestrian entering the crosswalk and make the decision to stop? At 40 mph it takes the driver 59 ft in reaction time to make the decision to stop and 139 ft overall to stop the vehicle before entering the crosswalk. Traffic volume is also a factor. Most of our crosswalks are located on low volume two lane residential roads, so for us, traffic volume is not as great of concern as visibility. Level of Service or LOS is the time frame that someone is willing to wait to cross the road safely. Normally we don't expect to see any LOS ratings above a C rating on our residential streets, but the county roads and state highways will experience higher LOS ratings. Control Delay (Seconds) 0-5 sec 5-10 sec 10-20 sec 30-45 sec Usually no conflicting traffic Occasionally some delay y...uedto traffic Delayynoticeable but not inconveniencing g Delay noticeable and irritating, increased chance of risk taking Delay approaches tol erance level, risk taking behavior likely