Group Recommendations

Intersection of Willow Ave and Elm Street

Deciding what to do was in some cases easy and in others more difficult. Here's what the group came up with. This intersection is really complicated in part because half the intersection is in Cambridge and in part because there's just a lot of pedestrian, bicycle and car traffic coming from every direction. We are focusing here on the two corners that are in Somerville (Northeast/ Northwest). We recommend:

Curb extensions on both curbs to narrow the distance that pedestrians have to walk and to slow traffic. In addition to the curb extensions we think there should be a raised crosswalk going from the corner with Ace Wheel works to the other side of Willow heading towards Davis Square.



Recognizing that curb extensions might be a budget buster for the City, a temporary alternative would be to put high quality/ attractive planters along the line of the proposed curb extension to achieve the same benefits until a permanent curb/ sidewalk can be installed.



Intersection of Willow Ave and Summer Street

Install a raised intersection with an all-way stop including blinking red stop lights. At the block party, people were firmly for a raised intersection and firmly against an all-way stop. We feel the raised intersection should not be coupled with a standard traffic signal (red-yellow-green) because the green light and the table create conflicting messages. The table is telling drivers to slow down to an "almost stop" while the signal is telling them to get going and make the light.



Alternatively, if the neighborhood wants to keep the current traffic signal, we recommend fully painting the intersection with a decorative colorful design (see the Portland in previous posting) or a simply cross-hatch the entire intersection with a "dutch crossing". If this option is chosen we recommend that curb extensions similar to those recommended on Elm and Summer be implemented on the Northeast and Southeast corners of the intersection.



Willow Ave/ The through street

We recommend that a bike lane be installed on Willow Ave to narrow the travel lane (slowing car traffic) and to encourage bicycle use. Most members of the group liked the idea of a contra-flow (against traffic) bike lane. Yet, residents at the block party, and those participating in our group strongly opposed a contra-flow lane, because it might cause additional conflicts with driveways on the street. In favor of a contra-flow bike lane, our traffic observations showed that 10 bikes per hour were traveling against traffic.

A broader vision: Davis to Union Square by bike:

We suggest that the Somerville Bike Committee study the possibility of creating bike lanes or a bike boulevard on Hancock and/or Cedar Street to accommodate the desire of bicyclists to travel south-bound towards Elm Street near Porter Square. In addition we suggest that the Somerville Bike Committee study bicycle accommodations for Elm Street to provide continuous bicycle access from Davis Square to Union Square via Willow Ave, the Community Bike Path, Elm Street and the bike lanes on Somerville Avenue (under construction).

Block Party!

We set up a display at the Willow Avenue Block Party today. We had a large poster of the street with some sample traffic calming devices. We also had a print out of the blog.



People were able to learn about the range of solutions (previously mentioned in the blog) and rate them as desirable or not. We also had a pad out for general comments.

It was an amazingly beautiful day and as soon as the City closed the street the kids took over.



Here are what people said they liked and didn't like for options at each intersection and the corridor as a whole. We're using shorthand here-- the first number is those who liked the idea, the second, those who were neutral and the third those who really didn't like the idea at all--hated it! So for example if the measure is a raised crosswalk and 23 people loved it, one didn't care and one hated it, it would be marked at (23/1/1).

If you are confused about what some of the terms mean, hopefully you will find some good definitions in earlier entries (further down). I tried to put the most popular first and the least popular last. But sometimes it wasn't totally clear.

Elm and Willow Intersection

Curb extensions:
Extending the sidewalk out to the curb (18/0/2)
Colorful paint-- force cars to take a wide turn (9/0/2)
Planters-- see earlier entry for examples (7/1/1)
Planters and paint combined (2/1/0)

Raised Crosswalk 23/1/1

Traffic Signal Changes
All Way Stop (14/0/5)
Roundabout (6/0/6)
Put in traffic lights (2/0/5)
Willow and Summer Intersection

Intersection Treatment
Raised Intersection/ Speed Table (18/0/2)
Dutch crossing -- paint the whole intersection (13/0/2)

Raised Crosswalk (13/0/2)

Curb Extensions
Paint (10/0/2)
Planters (5/2/1)
Planters and Paint (5/2/0)
Extend the sidewalk/ bump out curb (13/0/6)

Traffic Signal Changes (3/0/2)
Pedestrian Walk Lights (11/0/1)
All Way Stop (2/0/5)
No right on red (1/0/11)

Willow: the through street (treatments between the intersections)
Narrowing the travel lane by:
Adding Bike Lanes (19/0/5)
Adding Shared Lane Markings (3/0/3)
Both Bike lanes and shared lane markings (0/0/6)
Consider bike lanes up against the curb (inside parked cars) (1/1/9)

Change the Street back to two way (2/0/17)

People were encouraged to write their comments on flip chart paper. Here's what they had to say. This is unedited from the sheet, so if it makes no sense, I probably can't help you.

Comments on the Flip Chart

• Bike Lane on Elm- Parking one side only
• Trim back trees blocking signal at summer
• More trees
• Wider Sidewalks
• Bury the utility wires
• If contra-flow lane is implemented, the parking spaces on Elm (maybe 1 space on either side of Willow) would have to be made "no pkg" areas.
• Any traffic pattern changes on Willow must consider the surrounding streets
• Trees at corners = slow down cars
• Traffic Lights at intersection of Elm and Policeman
• Additional crosswalk mid block between Elm and Summer
• Raised Crosswalk on Holland Street in Davis Square
• Make Willow 2 way
• Square of Beach Street Intersection (Make cars turn right then left instead of straight through)
• Speed Tables
• Two Way!

If you couldn't make the block party today and would like to comment or vote on the measures (or even if you did make it today and have something more to say), please comment on the blog!



Thank you residents of Willow Avenue!

Some Examples of Traffic Calming Devices

A traditional and inexpensive way of slowing traffic are speed cushions. These are rubber speed bumps that are bolted to the street. Here they are spaced to let a fire engine through:




Bike Lanes Calm Traffic too:

One idea is to put down a bicycle lane, shared bike lane or both. A narrower car travel lane will slow cars down. Also, just having bicycles in the street will slow cars down. Here are some pictures of "contra flow" (against the traffic bike lanes) that could be paired with a "shared lane marking" (stencil in the street where the cars and bikes share the same lane) going with the direction of traffic

Contra-flow bike lane in Cambridge, MA


A shared lane marking in Toronto Canada



The lane width on Willow Ave is 33'. Reserving 8.5 feet for parking on both sides of the street, there would still be enough room for a 10' travel lane and a 6' bike lane. The 10' travel lane could have a shared lane marking in it. If no bicycles were coming in the "contra flow" bike lane a car would pass a bike going in it's direction by pulling in to the bike lane.

Curb extensions

These can be done with paint and planters (low cost) or by moving the curb physically in to the road. Below are some photos of planters:

This one is too big to see around, but of nice quality:



Here are lower cost planters that could be further defined with creative paint:




Here's a really nicely landscaped curb extension of the expensive kind:


For Intersections there are also many options, some cheap and some expensive. On the cheap side... here is a creative use of paint that really makes a statement:





And more expensive... a roundabout:



These are just a few of the many ways that traffic can be calmed. For more ideas and to give us yours, come to the Willow Avenue Block Party on Sunday October 14, 2007-- from 12 noon to 5PM

Signal Timing at Willow and Summer

Willow and Summer

38 second cycle length;

18 seconds (green plus yellow) for Summer St (both directions)

18 seconds (green plus yellow) for Willow Ave

1 second of all red between each phase

Pedestrians cross concurrently with either phase (they cross Willow when Summer is green)

Walking at 2 miles per hour (a slow speed) a pedestrian can travel 53 feet in 18 seconds, so there is enough time provided in each cycle for pedestrians to cross the 33 feet on Willow or the 29.5 feet on Summer safely.

Willow and Highland

19 seconds (green plus yellow) for Highland Ave (both directions)

Willow is actuated by vehicles,

during the PM peak all cycles but one were 23 seconds (green plus yellow), the other was 15 seconds

1 second of all red between each phase

Pedestrians cross concurrently with either phase (they cross Willow when Highland is green). There are also separate pedestrian-actuation buttons at all crosswalks. The pedestrian button was actuated 3 of 10 cycles during the peak, for 15 seconds each

Walking at 2 miles per hour (a slow speed) a pedestrian can travel 40 feet in 15 seconds, so there is enough time provided in each cycle for pedestrians to cross the 33 feet on Willow or the 40 feet on Highland safely.

Street Measurements

Willow Avenue between Highland and Elm is exactly 33 feet across. Summer is smaller at 29.5 feet. Highland and Elm are both 40' wide mid block. The intersection of Elm and Summer has extremely long crossings due to the geometry of the crossing vis a vis the corners-- 36 to 40' for Willow and 47' on Elm. Below is a very rough google map photo showing the whole cross section.

Possible Solutions

When looking at possible solutions on Willow we've separated out the intersections and the "through street" to make it easier to analyze and pose solutions. Some reminders of our challenges:

Low cost vs high cost-- for now we're roughly ranking the solutions in this way: If it's low cost, then chances are it's easier to implement (and even reverse if people don't like it). If things are working well with low cost solutions, it will be relatively easy to upgrade them when the funds are available for the city.

Neighbors gotta like it/ City's gotta like it-- here we're thinking about what might be most likely to succeed. So things that push traffic to other streets may not be popular with the traffic receiving streets.

A great resource that the city put together on pedestrian issues city wide is:

http://www.somervillema.gov/CoS_Content/documents/SafeSTART%20Nov%202006%20full%20report.pdf

So What do we have for solutions? Below is a start: Stay tuned because I'm sure we'll add a few more based on your comments and the feedback we get on this blog and at the Willow Street Block Party (Oct 14)

Intersection of Elm and Willow

Curb extensions-- from least expensive to most

• Paint-- Bright and bold-- will force a lot of cars to make wide turns. Some will ignore it.
• Planters-- Picture planted perennials, bushes and grasses. May need to be maintained by neighbors. Planters vary tremendously in quality from Plastic ones you get at home depot, to wood, terracotta, cement (with many treatments such as stains imprints, mosaics etc), Metals. The sky's the limit. Cost would be a limiting factor.
• Planters and paint combined
• Extend the sidewalk/ push out the curb
  

Raised Crosswalk-- Can be made out of many materials. Cost will vary depending on drainage issues (moving curbs) and materials chosen.

Traffic signal changes--

• All Way stop
• Roundabout
• Signalize (put in traffic lights -- see comment on earlier entry)

Intersection at Willow and Summer

Curb extensions-- from least expensive to most

• Paint-- Bright and bold-- will force a lot of cars to make wide turns. Some will ignore it.
• Planters-- Picture planted perennials, bushes and grasses. May need to be maintained by neighbors. Planters vary tremendously in quality from Plastic ones you get at home depot, to wood, terracotta, cement (with many treatments such as stains imprints, mosaics etc), Metals. The sky's the limit. Cost would be a limiting factor.
• Planters and paint combined
• Extend the sidewalk/ push out the curb

Gangwalks/ Dutch Crossing
Essentially paint the entire intersection with cross hatches

Raised Intersection/ Speed Table
Same as above, but it would a be a noticeable rise in elevation. Costs vary from $30K (asphalt) to $100K (Brick/ Granite/ issues with drainage to deal with). This would be done in conjunction with an all way stop at the intersection (see below).

Raised Crosswalk-- Can be made out of many materials. Cost will vary depending on drainage issues (moving curbs) and materials chosen.

Traffic signal changes--

• All Way stop (can be done with existing signals by turning to blinking red)
  
• No right on red
• Pedestrian walk lights
  

Intersection at Willow and Highland

Consider/ look at pedestrian signalization to see how it works. Otherwise we will address this intersection with treatments proposed for the "through street", the whole section of willow between Elm and Highland.

Willow: the through street

Speed Cushions (http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/roadworks/cushions.htm)

Narrow the Street/ Travel lane
Add bike lanes
Add shared lane markings
Both bikelanes and shared lane markings (bike lane would be contra flow)
Consider putting a bike lane inside the parked cars up against the curb

Change the street back to two way-- would look and work much like Willow from Highland to Broadway.

Willow Ave Crash Statistics

Based on MassHighway/Registry of Motor Vehicle files

2002-2005

Total 22 crashes between Elm and Highland

9 at Elm/Willow/Beech

4 involved injuries (5 persons injured), 4 property damage only, 1 not reported

1 crash was with a pedestrian. All others were vehicles only.

All involved good weather

No specific movement or direction seemed to predominate - sometimes it was an angle with cars from two different directions, others involved two vehicles in the same direction.

4 at Willow/Summer

1 involved an injury. No pedestrian crashes listed.

1 took place in wet weather. 2 crashes involved eastbound (Willow) and northbound (Summer) vehicles at the signal.

9 at Willow/Highland

3 involved injuries (4 persons injured). 3 took place in wet weather, 2 involving snow.

1 northbound vehicle collided with a pedestrian, another with a parked car.