Safety report on Atwells Ave. outlines recommendations for improvement
Posted on February 20th, 2011
PROVIDENCE – The crash rate for vehicles on Atwells Ave. is 400 percent higher than comparable areas nationally, while the injury crash rate is 250 percent higher than average, according the report Atwells Avenue Pedestrian Road Safety Assessments.
The report, prepared by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc. and commissioned by the city, uses traffic, speed and crash data and includes input from local business owners and officials.
About 17,000 vehicles per day cross the stretch of Atwells Avenue from Bradford Street to Knight Street and more than 1,000 vehicles during the peak hour from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.; congestion is particularly problematic from Thursday through Saturday during the evenings.
“Conflicts such as motorists looking for parking, pedestrian crossings at multiple locations, combined with queues from the Dean Street intersection are major factors that contribute to this congestion,” the report said.
The overall issues found throughout the Atwells corridor were: lack of adequate lighting, lack of adequate pedestrian crossings and pedestrians crossing Atwells Avenue at various locations and a general lack of awareness of vehicles.
Analyzing data provided by the R.I. Department of Transportation for the period between Jan. 1, 2007 and Dec. 31, 2009, the report found that the most common type crash for the 147 collisions was a rear-end crash. The second most common crash type was with a parked car; 16 percent of crashes resulted in an injury and 44 percent occurred at night.
Crashes most often occurred during the evening commute and at night from 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
One of the major reasons for the study were the 15 pedestrian-vehicle collisions within the last four years, six of which happened in 2010.
Input from business owners, police and local officials included complaints that pedestrians were at least half at fault, many walk out into the travel lanes without looking for oncoming vehicles; the majority of the pedestrian crashes occur around 2 a.m. when the clubs and bars close; vehicles speed down the road, especially at night; during the evening, motorists circulate looking for on-street parking which is free after 6 p.m.
The report outlines a series of near-term, intermediate and long-term recommendations. Among its 31 near-term suggestions, the firm suggested relocating bus stops within intersections, encourage businesses to enhance visibilities of valets and prohibit parking in Depasquale Square.
The intermediate suggestions include: investigate access management strategies, consider the installation of a curb ramp on the north side of Knight Street and consider installing bump-outs at pedestrian crossings to mitigate visibility issues at nine locations.
Long-term recommendations call for lighting improvements such as in-pavement and smart lighting.
The report’s conclusion says it is the city’s intent to quickly implement the agreed upon near-term and some intermediate improvements. The remaining intermediate and long-term improvements can be incorporated in upcoming contacts, it said.
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