signs - things to come?

In the past month or so there's been some conversation about LOW cost solutions to pedestrian issues. I've done a fairly extensive literature search on the most effective safety devices and found these:

http://www.safehitlx.com/default/face.php?C=RT360_signs

Of all Blinky lights and neon painted cones, these are the most effective for slowing vehicles and improving pedestrian safety (see: Innovative Treatments at Unsignalized Pedestrian Crossing
Locations - Herman Huang, Charles Zegeer, Richard Nassi)

And HEY! at a couple hundred bucks a pop these are EASY to raise money for... OR perhaps concerned neighborhood groups could sponsor a few of these in trouble spots.

I've also read that these paired with curb bump-out are a very effective combo!

This might be the next big push, we'll see what research and opinion turns up. Feel free to comment here.

Got Data back from the city (Data with a capitol D!) about the traffic speed vs. time of day and found some interesting trends:
-Rush hour is just that, a rush. Well over 50% of the traffic using Cedar at that time are traveling in excess of 35mph, in a posted 30mph zone.
-The information, at first glance, indicates that it is the through traffic commuters that are doing the speeding (is that a surprise to anyone?). On my block from 6-7am there were 659 cars headed North, towards the city, while there were only 374 headed South, out of the neighborhood. Of the [commuter etc] vehicles headed North 55% are FAR over the speed limit (greater than 5mph, about 17% faster). Of the Southbound traffic, presumably neighborhood headed towards the highway, only 31% were over 35mph.
-the morning ratio shows about 2/3 of all vehicles are headed North
-in the evening it's about 50/50 although Southbound is slightly higher. Since the heaviest backups occur at night, it would be worth seeing if the additional vehicles are using other streets to go South.

Hey, that tells me something interesting. To ME it indicates that Neighborhood traffic acts more responsibly... Good for us! This is reassuring. But on the downside, generally at least 50% of all cars are moving far in excess of the speed limit during 'off times' (even at 3am) which contribute to a lot of problems; ped safety, noise etc. These numbers give no indication exactly how much over 35 the cars are traveling.

I think that this give us a better handle on where to focus. I think it's been pretty obvious to residents of Cedar. We all knew that commuter traffic was heavy, but I didn't realize HOW heavy... and the speeds of what I call neighborhood vs commuter are very interesting.

I'm working on getting these number to the local precincts in order to inform them of the best times to patrol... and which side.
Thanks go to Jim Grube at the county for sharing these numbers. I'll work on getting them up here so you can all see what I'm trying to describe.

So now is the big question, how do we slow down through traffic... those that don't live in our area and have no vested interest in the quality of life around Cedar? Any thoughts??

Idea for Crosswalk Signage on Cedar Ave

A GREAT idea was passed on to us from Stephanie, the block leader on 44th and Columbus regarding signage for crosswalks at the intersections of 44th and 47th Streets and Cedar Avenue.

It seems part of the hesitation by the city to put a crosswalk at an uncontrolled intersection is fear that traffic would not yield to pedestrians. I think her idea to put signage IN THE STREET, as well as on the boulevards, would make the crosswalk much more visable, and is substantially less expensive than a traffic light.

I've attached pictures of this type of sign...this one is at the interesection of 65th and Woodlake in Richfield. They also added wide, white stripes several yards before the intersection, as a further visual clue to watch for pedestrians.

Hooray!!

In case you haven't seen yet (since they came out this morning) we made the FRONT page of Southside Pride!!

The signs, however, are down temporarily since the Park Board wasn't too keen on having them in the easement. They will be up again SOON, hopefully tonight... and will be followed shortly by 2 other sets.

If you block is interested in creating these please let us know. The material for these sets was donated, but we now have a formula for creating successful, legible signage. They even Shine in the Dark!

-Will