City of Missoula, Montana Request to Experiment: Use of ...

E-2011-0109

City of Missoula, Montana Request to Experiment: Use of Green Pavement Markings Within Bike Lanes March 24, 2011

Prepared by: City of Missoula Public Works Department

Submitted , Missoula Public Works Director

AN EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER M I F I V I H

NATURE OF THE PROBLEM The City of Missoula, Montana recognizes bicycling as a mode of transportation which improves public health, reduces traffic volumes and congestion, reduces use of fossil fuels, is non-polluting, and promotes a vibrant city culture. Consequently, the City of Missoula has long supported the idea of providing safe and functional bicycle facilities. The City has an extensive network of on-street and off-street bicycle facilities including shared lanes, exclusive bike lanes, protected bikeways, and bike paths. These facilities serve a broad demographic and are intended to both encourage a modal shift to bicycling and make bicycling safer. The most recent bicycle facility improvement being considered by the City of Missoula are green pavement markings in bike lanes approaching and through intersections. It is at intersections that cyclists are most vulnerable to conflicts with automobiles. To improve bicycle safety the City of Missoula deems it appropriate to provide additional indications to automobile drivers as to the presence of bicycles at intersections, and their designated place within the street cross-section. This will be achieved by painting the bike lanes with green pavement markings approaching and through intersections. The City, together with the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) will be reconstructing a portion of US Highway 12 this summer and wishes to use green pavement markings within bike lanes as illustrated in Figure 1. This document is a request to the Federal Highway Administration to experiment with the use of green pavement markings on this project for the purposes expressed above.

DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED EXPERIMENT The City of Missoula proposes to install green pavement markings to enhance visibility and clarify delineation of bicycle lanes at the following locations (Figure 1): .. Arthur Avenue north of 6 th Street .. Intersection of 6th Street and Maurice Avenue .. Arthur Avenue north of 5th Street and through the intersection .. Intersection of 5th Street and Maurice Avenue The City proposes to apply a combination of solid green non-reflective bike lanes and dashed white retroreflective lane lines. Bike lanes would continue to be marked with standard white pavement stencils, per the MUTCD. The green marking would provide clear indication to motorists as to the presence of the bike lane (and in one instance a bike box), and demarcate the intended thru bicycle movement.

SUPPORTING DATA The State of Vermont as well as the following U.S. cities have experimented with colored bike lanes: New York, NY; Boston, MA; Chicago, II; Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; Columbia, MO; Seattle, WA; and Columbus, OH. The most comprehensive study completed to date was

Portland's Blue Bike Lanes: Improved Safety through Enhanced Visibility, performed by the City of Portland and the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center. Based on the findings of the Portland study, the installation of colored bike lanes seemed to result in the following benefits: .. • •

A statistically significant increase in motorists yielding to cyclists A statistically significant increase in motorists slowing or stopping when approaching conflict areas A statistically significant increase by bicyclists in the use of the recommended path.

The overwhelming majority of cyclists and close to a majority of motorists in the Portland study felt the colored bike lanes enhanced safety. Data on reported crashes subsequent to installation of the blue pavement markings was not yet available at the time of the preparation of the report. The improved perception of safety seemed to also result in less caution among some cyclists as indicated by a statistically significant decrease in head turning and hand signaling. (The City of Portland has subsequently converted the blue bike lane markings to green - the benefits are expected to be unchanged).

PROPOSED ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGY The green pavement markings will be installed as part of a larger reconstruction project which will significantly alter traffic patterns and introduce a new traffic signal. Because of the number of changes occurring in the proposed experimentation area it is not possible to do a "before and after" assessment of improvements which isolates just the effects of the green pavement markings. Instead, after placement of the experimental green pavement markings the City of Missoula will administer a survey of bicyclist seeking feedback on satisfaction, comfort, safety, conflicts with motor vehicles in the experimental area relative to experience in other locations that do not have this treatment, and opinions on what could be improved with the markings. The City of Missoula Public Works Department will lead and oversee the monitoring and evaluation of the experiment with assistance from consultants if necessary.

SCHEDULE th

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The 5 /6 /Arthur/Maurice Intersection Safety and Circulation Improvement Project, with which the green bike lanes will be installed, is anticipated for construction during the summer of 2011. The anticipated schedule for the experiment is one year from the date that the experimental pavement markings are installed and operational. The City of Missoula will collect and report survey data at that time.

REPORTING Reporting will be submitted as specified by FHWA. A semiannual progress report will be submitted for the duration of the experiment and a final report on the results will be provided to the FHWA within three months following the completion of the experiment.

PATENT/COPYRIGHT PROTECTION To the best of the City of Missoula's knowledge, the proposed colored pavement markings are not protected by patent or copyright.

REMOVAL OF EXPERIMENT The City of Missoula will remove the experiment within three months of completion of the study in the event FHWA reaches a decision that changes to the MUTCD are not warranted to include colored pavement markings. If the experiment demonstrates an improvement, the colored pavement markings will remain in place as a request is made to update the MUTCD and an official rulemaking action occurs. In the event the experiment creates SUbstantial safety hazards that warrant removal prior to the planned end of the experiment, the City of Missoula will discontinue the experiment.

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