Priority for walkers and cyclists

With higher gas prices people are mode shifting by taking to the streets as walkers and cyclists. But to their horror they are finding that the street environment was re-engineered for automobiles only, in the last seventy years, while we were all driving on cheap gas. Street timing, road and lane layout, space allocation, turn lanes, sight lines, scale and threading all favor the driver in faster heavier and more powerful cars. With time all the priority on the street has gone to the driver. The result has been killing speeds that make the city unwalkable. We need to share priority with other modes.

Worse laws to ensure equality are routinely ignored because the police are not around (like the postman cops can't be everywhere), and even when around are either dummies (police station a dummy in a cruiser in San Mateo to get drivers to slow down), or preoccupied with homeland security or drugs in the public space. Mode shifters find that they are second class citizens, taking the risk of getting run over to save on gas prices without recourse from the DA. Shared priority engineers the street to allow modal equality by acknowledging the fig leaf of enforcement and the technological pretense of equality.

Street timing- street crossings should be timed to get seniors, strollers, and able bodies adults across on a green. Presently many large roads signals will time out before a person is fifth of the way across. Congestion would be reduced if we had two to three lane roads instead of seven to thirteen lanes for people to cross since it would discourage driving while enabling walkers. A lead walk signal provides a walk prompt two seconds before a green light to allow walkers to get into the visual field of the right turning driver who tends to be looking left. Once seen the possibility of being run over is eliminated for pedestrians in the crosswalk. Bicycles should be provided with a waiting box in the front of the shoulder lane instead of being stuck to the right of traffic that may want to turn right; or have to take an optional turn lane and irritate a driver who thinks the world revolves around his time. But as much as possible we want smaller streets that don't require a scramble for lights where drivers godzilla out the peds.

Road layout should provide crossings based on a pedestrians scale. That means mid block crosswalks every 100 feet to improve threading. This makes a roundtrip by foot 200 feet plus the crosswalk distance of say three lanes which would be 30 feet. Provide incentives for services to be located in a 1/8 mile radius so that the walking circle is a 1/4 mile on a diameter. Presently crosswalks are placed every 500 or more feet making roundtrips 1100 feet or a 1/5th of a mile. Pedestrian scales are in feet. Auto scales are in miles. Since an auto can easily go 200 miles before the driver needs to stop for a pee the likelihood of finding services (bread, dental, movies, school, costco) in a 1/5 of a mile is non-existent. Road layout therefor conform to auto scales of volume and speed and not pedestrian scale. The resulting crash rates between people and cars is predictable. Landuse planners then turn around and make the city more drivable by locating each service (dental, doctor, pizza, playground, library, work, grocery store, movie theater) in a separate distant location making the ability to chain trips together by walking impossible. Imagine if all these services were in the same building infront of the playground. Would you drive anywhere?

Lane layout- Lanes should accommodate autos at speeds the street was designed for. 8 and 9 foot lanes are adequate for streets of 15 and 20 mph, speeds that pedestrians and cyclists can adjust and coexist on with automobiles, and which were the basis of the street layout a hundred years ago. Today's lanes of 12 -14 feet can accommodate 60- 70 mph traffic (one reason police won't chase an escaping criminal is that the lane widths accommodate racetracks with sorry results for the public around) with the resulting elimination of foot traffic and a huge increase in speed creep. Residents today can remember only 25 years ago when arterials like Ralston were 25 mph; and the intervening speed creep that have brought speeds to 40 mph and threaten to take it to 50 mph. Having one 8' lane for cars would allow for reduced driving and slower traffic that is not a death knell for walkers and bicyclists.

Road width and lane layout- If your town center or business district is on a 1/4 mile diameter then three to four lane arterials and slow streets are adequate. Dead business district with few businesses that struggle to stay alive and large dilapidated parking lots are a consequence of providing access to drivers only. The motivation to drive is not your place but the destination down the road with the next mall or walkable district. Adding lanes only says take the business elsewhere. Cars can drive to Tahoe or Monterey for recreation or business. How do we keep them in our little towns? By discouraging driving in the first place.

Road width encourages speeding. El Camino is posted at 35 mph. Through Burlingame it is hard to do 35 because the four lane road appears narrow against the tree canopy. But in San Mateo the street opens up six and seven lanes. The driver is challenged not to go 45 in the center lanes and will be tailgated at 35 and 40 mph. Other drivers expecting the higher speeds will cut through the other lanes to get around the driver observing the speed limit. This makes the shoulder lane dangerous for bikes and peds and delays buses who are too wide to adequately share the shoulder lane with parked cars. Seven lanes streets are faster and designed so since they provide dual acceleration lanes as drivers don't have to around a left turning automobile.

Engineers have known for more than 70 years that wider lanes are much more dangerous to all road users and onerous burden on bikes and peds. Standards like Level Of Service allow enginers to bypass safety issues to front load priority on automobiles. EIRs will not even address safety or other modal share decreases as roads are widened instead throwing up their hands and saying this is unmitigatable and some thing we have to live with along with all the associated toxins and pollution. We have re-look at how we provide comments on the EIRs to see if CEQA allows another way to get road widening to mitigate these problems.

Space allocation- Sidewalks should be a minimum of 7' clear space and level and smooth so parents can walk with children alongside, seniors can walk with walkers, and wheel chairs users can fit comfortably. As road width increases with additional lanes sidewalks suffer and get squeezed down sometimes to a width that will not accommodate even one walker. Newer sidewalks in the North San Jose are by gleaming wide new roads are 3'wide and empty of walkers with no reasonable destination in sight under the hot baking sun. In our downtowns we should have a minimum of seven feet and as we get closer to the transit center make the sidewalk surface level throughout.

Turn lanes should be used to discourage through traffic with chokers and diverters. Presently turn lanes get huge turning radii so that drivers can take them at speed. In very few areas traffic calmers seek to reduce danger by putting in bulbouts. This is drive-to-walking. One drives into a downtown with a few traffic calmed blocks, eat dinner, go for a few blocks walk, hop in the car and leave. Instead use turn lanes to take way through traffic by turning half the intersections into parks. This doesn't reduce driveability- it takes away half of the million options available and turns them over to pedestrians and cyclists for a complete network.

Sight lines- drivers can go fast because they can see a long way down the road. In a walkable circle the sight lines should be reduced by planting trees that cover the street creating a canopy or outdoor cathedral. For walkers the welcome shade can overcome the fiery environment of even Chico, CA. Other ways to reduce sight lines is to plant trees in the middle of the street and create diversionary street scenes like outdoor dining, band squares, etc.

15 and 20 mile per hour streets- todays automobiles are made to accommodate that street infrastructure that has been given over to them. Cars are most efficient at 60 mph and have a difficult time driving 20 mph. Speed limit signs are almost never below 25 mph. However the energy crisis and planet toasting driving results of the past 25 years have resulted in hybrids today that can drive 15 mph and get run on the electric motor while so engaged. Enable them with the slower speed limits which can be monitored with cameras or engineering. In addition high gas prices have make some people start to drive golf carts. These vehicles go a maximum of 20 mph and are ideal for pedestrian friendly city where people are the priority.

Sharing priority will allow modes to be equally utilized reversing the last 75 years of discrimination against walkers and cyclists.