Walk and Roll: WSDOT Active Transportation Update Aug. 5, 2020

Washington State Department of Transportation sent this bulletin at 08/05/2020 05:25 PM PDT

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Most recent editions of Walk + Roll:

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ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION NEWS FROM WSDOT AND PARTNERS

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Reallocating Space to Support Economic Recovery and Healthy Lifestyles

WSDOT recently announced the Safe, Healthy and Active Streets program, created to respond to communities requesting temporary reallocation of a portion of state routes through their business districts so they can maintain safe social distancing for active transportation and commerce.

A new post up on the WSDOT blog describes the reconfiguration in downtown Pullman in some detail, and provides pictures of the parklets on SR 14 in Bingen as another example of a very small change that can make a big difference.

If your town is interested in requesting a change on a state route for these purposes, contact your WSDOT region traffic office. 

A very timely addition to the list of resources on undertaking street changes: Washington State Dept. of Health and Seattle-King County Public Health just released a Healthy Business Streets guide.

Submit information on local actions to these national datasets, which are tracking slightly different actions. Both include street configuration changes and trails.

  • Local Actions to Support Walking and Cycling During Social Distancing Dataset: “Tracks immediate community actions that show adaptation to changing demands on public space in response to COVID-19. It is also used as a reference for communities looking for examples from other cities on ways to create safe spaces for social distancing.” Submit local information via the form on this page. The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center is supported by FHWA.
  • NACTO: City Transportation Action Updates “NACTO is documenting actions taken by cities and transit agencies globally in a searchable and sortable database.” City doesn’t need to be a NACTO member to submit information via this form.

Resources

WSDOT Region Traffic Contacts

  • Region map
  • Eastern Region: Glenn Wagemann, WagemaG@wsdot.wa.gov
  • North Central Region: David Kieninger, KieninD@wsdot.wa.gov
  • Northwest Region: Mark Leth, LethM@wsdot.wa.gov
  • Olympic Region: Sarah Ott, OttSara@wsdot.wa.gov, or Manual Abarca, AbarcaM@wsdot.wa.gov
  • South Central Region: LisaRene Schilperoort, SchilpL@wsdot.wa.gov
  • Southwest Region: Rick Keniston, KenistR@wsdot.wa.gov

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COVID 19 and Active Transportation Peer Exchange Aug. 12

AASHTO’s Council on Active Transportation and FHWA are offering a free 90-minute virtual peer exchange webinar spotlighting state DOT’s creative actions and responses to COVID-19 in the active transportation arena. Panelists will cover active transportation topics including speed management, collaboration around decision-making, data collection, and safety.

Welcome/Opening Remarks/ Toks Omishakin, Executive Director, Caltrans; Chair, AASHTO Council on Active Transportation

Speakers:

• Shari Schaftlein, Director, FHWA Office of Human Environment (FHWA Active Transportation Resources)
• Jacqueline DeWolfe, Massachusetts DOT
• Michael Petesch, Minnesota DOT
• Barb Chamberlain, Washington DOT

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NACTO Publishes City Limits Guide to Safer Speed Limits

This week the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) released City Limits, focused on for setting safe speed limits for city streets. City Limits outlines how to use a safe systems approach to set speed limits in urban environments, in contrast to legacy methods (e.g. the 85th percentile) that often result in speeds that are inappropriately fast for urban environments.

City Limits outlines a three-method approach to speed limit setting that provides an alternative to percentile-based speed limit setting:

  • Setting default speed limits on many streets at once (such as 25 mph on all major streets and 20 mph on all minor streets),
  • Designating slow zones in sensitive areas, and
  • Setting corridor speed limits on high priority major streets, using a safe speed study, which uses conflict density and activity level to set context-appropriate speed limits.

The approaches NACTO outlines align with WSDOT's work leading a multi-agency, multiprofessional work group to develop a model policy for speed limits focused on injury minimization. The 2018 reports from the Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety Councils and WSDOT's Pedestrian Safety Action Plan all recommended development of such a policy to make streets and roads safer for all users. The National Transportation Safety Board also recommended an overhaul of how speed is managed on U.S. streets. The draft Washington policy will be finalized later this year and shared with cities and counties for them to consider adoption.

“From 2010 to 2019, most Washingtonians killed while walking or biking (87%) died on roads with a posted speed of 30 mph or higher. To tackle this critical problem, WSDOT is leading a multi-agency, multidisciplinary group working on a model policy addressing speed management for injury minimization,” said Keith Metcalf, Deputy Secretary, WSDOT. “We know we need to apply design tools and create ‘self-enforcing’ streets that help drivers move at speeds appropriate to the context. We want to be a partner with our cities and counties in saving lives, and City Limits will help us work with them.”

City Limits: Setting Safe Speed Limits on Urban Streets

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Washington Bike, Walk, Roll Summit Goes Virtual

The Washington Bike, Walk, Roll Summit organized by Cascade Bicycle Club was originally planned for September in Spokane. Given the pandemic, the summit will come to you the week of Oct. 5-9 with an online series of panels, keynote sessions, and engagement.

WSDOT supports the BWR Summit as an important source of professional development for WSDOT staff, agency partners, advocates, elected officials, and others interested in understanding the changing world of active transportation.

The conference offers a limited number of scholarships to offset registration in order to make the event available to people who otherwise might not be able to participate. 

As organizers finalize the conference they seek your input on content you'll find most valuable. Take the survey.

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Is Your Community Age-Friendly?

AARP has developed a process for considering how your town (or state) addresses the needs of people as they get older. A program of their broader AARP Livable Communities initiative, the Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities is grounded in "the belief that the places where we live are more livable, and better able to support people of all ages, when local leaders commit to improving the quality of life for the very young, the very old, and everyone in between."

In Washington State, Seattle/King County is the only community so far. As an example of a recent action, they issued a statement on responding to COVID-19.

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FIVE+ THINGS TO READ

Building Urbanism into Climate Policy: "Every policy vision should answer the question: is this an approach that can be scaled up to 10 billion people and sustained over time, or does it move in the direction of one that can? Or is it a temporary fix to a flawed system that has the risk of entrenching current inequalities?"

What Happens to Public Space When Everything Moves Outside: "It remains to be seen whether cities can avoid the worst-case scenario, in which streets become quasi-privatized preserves for paying customers granted new freedoms, while people who are homeless, protesting or simply hanging out find their right to occupy the same spaces curtailed."

The Forgotten History of How Accessible Design Reshaped the Streets: "Design makes possible or impossible the means of practical use, but it is also a pointed commentary on the meaning of bodies that move through spaces."

How urban planning is a tool of white supremacy: "Dismantling the legacy of by-design segregation will require the tools of urban planning being utilized to find solutions after decades of being part of the problem."

Top Mayors Pledge to Build 15-Minute Cities For COVID-19 Recovery: "proponents of 15-minute city argue that we must think outside the DOT and start exploring holistic ways to “intensify” neighborhoods, or add housing, jobs and services within easy walking (or rolling) distance of one another."

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TRAININGS, CONFERENCES, WEBINARS

We add new trainings as we find them so the list changes with every issue. Some of these offer continuing education credits. All times are shown in Pacific time zone. 

All webinars listed are FREE unless a price is noted. All items are webinars unless a location is noted.

August

September

GRANTS AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

  • City of Seattle is accepting applications for Safe Routes to School mini-grants on a rolling basis.
  • USDOT Applicant Toolkit for Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success (ROUTES) Initiative intended to help communities understand and apply for discretionary grants, some of which may be able to fund active transportation improvements.
  • USDOT TIFIA Rural Project Initiative loans can be used to construct pedestrian/bicyclist infrastructure
  • Have any funding opportunities people should know about? Send to barb.chamberlain@wsdot.wa.gov

AWARDS, COMPETITIONS AND KUDOS

PLANNING AND PROJECTS

Have an upcoming project, open house, public comment opportunity? Construction projects people should know about as they relate to biking/walking? Compliments on a project? Send to barb.chamberlain@wsdot.wa.gov

PRESENT AND PARTICIPATE

RESEARCH AND RESOURCES

SURVEYS AND DATA COLLECTION

If you read this far, thank you! You're finding something of value here and you know someone else who should receive this kind of news and learn what's happening with the state Active Transportation Plan. Forward WSDOT Walk and Roll to others and share the subscription link on social media (tag it #WSDOTactive).