Complete Streets

Neighboring NJ is picking up speed, one municipality and county at a time – Mobilizing the Region — It was a banner week last week for sustainable transportation advocates in New Jersey.  Both Essex and Mercer Counties approved Complete Streets policies joining Monmouth County to become the second and third counties in New Jersey to adopt [...]

DelDOT — The Delaware Department of Transportation invites the public to attend a workshop to receive an update on the status of the proposed new bridge crossing of the Christina River in South Wilmington. The workshop will be held on Monday, March 26, at the Chase Center on the Riverfront, 815 Justison Street, in Wilmington. [...]

  T. Coleman Dupont’s Original Concept of the Dupont Parkway   US 13 Northbound into Dover   There are no places in Delaware more hostile to bicycling than certain segments of the Dupont highway (e.g. Hare’s Corner in New Castle).  But 100 years ago, when T. Coleman Dupont proposed building a new road to connect [...]

Complete Streets in Delaware: A Guide for Local Governments is a new on-line and downloadable publication by the University of Delaware Institute for Public Administration (IPA).  This document is intended to help Delaware towns, cities, and counties achieve complete streets in order to provide more balanced transportation systems and to create healthy, livable environments for [...]

Undoing or ameliorating the results of decades of bad design decisions that have produced our pedestrian and bicyclist unfriendly 21st-century built environment is hard work.  Not only is it (sometimes) expensive, sometimes it’s also just hard to see that change is even possible.  Like the little girl in the picture at left in Birchwood Park [...]

From our friends at Walk Bike Jersey Blog “Our streets are public spaces that belong to everyone, not just cars,” “Every Hoboken resident is a pedestrian, and more than ever, they are also riding bikes to get around. This expansion of our bicycle infrastructure demonstrates our strong commitment to making Hoboken more bike-friendly.”  ~ Mayor [...]

by Chuck Marohn Cross-posted in Strong Towns The American Society of Civil Engineers has just released a report that should be titled, “Pretending it is 1952.” Like a broken record, ASCE is again painting a bleak picture of the future if American politicians — as if they need to be plied — won’t open up [...]

“Complete Streets” is a phrase to conjure with.  The idea that streets are places that should serve many users (and not just car and truck traffic level-of-service) is enormously popular.  And, indeed,  Delaware has an official policy that is called “Complete Streets”.  In reality, however, Delaware’s actual policy is more accurately described as a “routine [...]

There is evidence to suggest that over time, our voices are being heard by our friends in DelDOT Traffic and Maintenance. Complete Streets – which includes measures like equal level of service for bicyclists and pedestrians – is a cultural change. Like a great ship, the “USS DelDOT” might be tough to steer but can [...]

by Chuck Marohn Cross-posted in Strong Towns Americans do not understand the difference between a road and a street. Roads move people between places while streets provide a framework for capturing value within a place. The value of a road is in the speed and efficiency that it provides for movement between places. Anything that is [...]

RELATED: • Can a Stroad Ever Be a “Complete Street”? • We Have Too Many Stroads • Do Conversations Like This Still Happen in 2011? • Wider. Straighter. Smoother. Faster. • First, Do No Harm to Pedestrians and Bicyclists • “Complete Streets” = Routine Accommodation

Have we gotten beyond this type of thinking?  Or are we still stuck with it – even now after we understand the consequences – in 2011? RELATED: • Can a Stroad Ever Be a “Complete Street”? • We Have Too Many Stroads • The Important Difference Between a Road and A Street • Wider. Straighter. Smoother. [...]

First year medical residents working shifts that last for more than 24 hours; painful/embarrassing rituals of hazing for fraternity pledges; tribal initiations that involve ritual circumcision; new navy crew members “kissing the Baby”; television game contestants eating bugs; and presidential candidates subjected to months of public humiliation.  These are all awful, but none quite compares [...]

Above: The scene along the Rt.72 sidepath (south of I95) as of Nov.14. There are 2 such signs placed in the middle of this popular bicycle commuting corridor. A reminder to DelDOT maintenance folks about equal level of service as stated in the Complete Streets policy: VII. Justification Complete Streets Defined The term “Complete Street” [...]

At one time, the Netherlands was taking a very similar path to the U.S. in terms of building auto-centric infrastructure. This wonderful video proves that change can happen anywhere – even here – if the people want and demand it.

Originally published: August 31, 2011 Level-of-Service OK, here at Bike Delaware World Headquarters, we love jargon. And one of our favorite pieces of jargon is “level-of-service” (LOS) which refers to the typical delays experienced by cars at a particular place. For example, the mecca of traffic engineering, level-of-service A: (Wikipedia): Level-of-Service A describes free-flow operations. [...]

Dallas Poll Finds Majority Would Reduce Car Lanes for Bikes Cross posted from Bike-Friendly Oak Cliff – Rock star of transportation administration and design, Janette Sadik-Khan, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation, while addressing a room full of cyclenerds at the National Bike Summit earlier this year commented, “It’s important to [...]

To paraphrase Hamlet, there are more pavement markings than are dreamt of in the MUTCD. Courtesy of the Virginia Department of Transportation, say hello to the Zig-Zag Pavement Marking: [E]ye-catching pavement markings installed on two roads that intersect with the W&OD Trail in Loudoun County, are helping to slow motorists and bicyclists according to an experiment conducted by [...]

Unfortunately, we find ourselves having to again remind DelDOT that the obstruction of bicycle facilities – especially in proximity to high speed arterial roads – is a recipe for disaster. More recently, total blocking of bike lanes was encountered on Paper Mill Road in Pike Creek, forcing riders out and into the high speed (50mph [...]

Michigan Department of Transportation has been putting engineers on bikes since 2005. Will we convince DelDOT to do the same someday? Photo: MDOT Cross-posted from Streetsblog Capitol Hill Do you ever feel like traffic engineers just don’t get it? That there is a hopeless disconnect between the world of sustainable transportation and the world of [...]

DelDOT maintenance crews went to the rescue within 1 month of being notified of treacherous conditions on the Route 141 shoulder leading to the Tyler McConnell Bridge. Gaping potholes and cracks which had opened up in recent months – given the harsh winter – were recently repaired. Care was taken to level the patches with [...]

By Drew Knox President, Bike Delaware When Governor Markell signed off on the 2012 state budget passed by the legislature, tucked into that bill was an allocation for $5,000,000 for state bike routes – a tape measure home run for Bike Delaware. Typically, those funds would qualify for a 4x match of federal funds, or [...]

Watch as Acting Secretary Cleon Cauley and Governor Jack Markell hand the reigns to Shailen Bhatt, DelDOT’s new Transportation Secretary. Bike Delaware is eager to work with Mr Bhatt on Complete Streets, Walkable Bikeable Delaware, and bicycle and pedestrian issues in general.

Cross-posted from the New York Times Europeans are doing all they can to discourage people from driving and parking their cars in and around cities. When European planners say that their aims are the opposite of American ones, it sounds like a boast, if not a fact, and starts a vigorous debate Why has urban [...]

Two Approaches to Intersection Design New York City: Netherlands:  

~ Another gem today in the Wilmington News Journal ~ If cyclists expect to be treated fairly on the road, they should have the same rules and fees as automobile operators. Bikes should be licensed, and drivers should have to pass road and written rule tests. Owning a bike does not make someone qualified to [...]

Since 2000 in New Castle County, bike lane installation is required whenever acceleration, deceleration, bypass, and right-turn lanes must be used in new construction. Section B, under the County’s Code of Ordinances below, is quite clear: ARTICLE 21. IMPROVEMENT AND DESIGN STANDARDS Sec. 40.21.130. Street standards.In addition to complying with all applicable DelDOT standards the [...]

Car Than Struck Kelly Tracey on May 25, 2011   at Rt. 273 and Brownleaf There is no photo of the car that hit and killed Michael Gropp on April 6, 2010. The motorist fled the scene, which was a convenient excuse to lay all the blame for that tragedy on the absent driver. In the [...]

Just thirteen months after 16 year old Michael Gropp was hit and killed while trying to walk his girlfriend home at 10PM at Rt. 273 and Brownleaf Road in Newark, 40 year old Kelly Tracey was struck and seriously injured in the same intersection at nearly the same time in the evening on Wednesday. After [...]

From our friends at T4A If a jumbo jet went down every month, Congress would pass laws left and right. If a consumer product injured someone every seven minutes, the feds would shut down production. Well, that’s exactly how many Americans are being killed and injured in the act of walking pedestrian-unfriendly streets, according to [...]

Signs of improvement continue in Complete Streets awareness and implementation, this time on Kirkwood Highway just east of the Harmony Road intersection, where DelDOT is going forward with closing the median at Upper Pike Creek Road. Large flourescent orange “Share the Road” signs were put in place to maximize bicycle safety between here and Green [...]

T4A — The May 5th release of the bipartisan Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2011 is an affirmative step toward ensuring the safety and convenience of America’s streets — for everyone. H.R. 1780, sponsored by Democratic Representative Doris Matsui of California and Republican Represenatative Steve LaTourette of Ohio, would require state transportation officials to [...]

This is mostly all illegal now: We have traded the symphony of 1906 streets for the muzak of 2011 roads. Read more>>

We remember Michael Gropp, who was killed 1 year ago today at the intersection of Rt. 273 and Brownleaf. Michael and his girlfriend lived on opposite sides of Rt. 273, an 82 foot wide, 4 lane arterial road in east Newark. Michael was walking her home at 10PM on April 6, 2010 when he was [...]

“Primum non nocere” (or “First, do no harm”) is a fundamental principle of medical ethics. Despite the many and varied achievements of medical science (hand washing before moving on to a new patient, anesthesia and antibiotics), it is still taught to medical students as a reminder of the limits of their craft and the need [...]

16% of Traffic Fatalities in Delaware Are Pedestrians and Bicyclists Excerpts from the original report as seen on Transportation for America (with commentary by James Wilson.) “In the last 15 years, more than 76,000 Americans have been killed while crossing or walking along a street in their community. More than 43,000 Americans – including 3,906 [...]

Bike Delaware needs your help. We either don’t have volunteers for the positions listed below, or they are currently being handled by board members who are unable to devote much time and energy due to work overload. Please consider volunteering a small amount of time today … none of these are difficult; in fact, they [...]

Original Post Date: 10/7/10 When Governor Jack Markell signed Executive Order #6 on April 24, 2009, ordering the creation of a “Complete Streets” policy at DelDOT, many Delaware bicyclists were giddy. If the Delaware bicycling community were blessed with its own version of Martin Luther King Jr., he might have yelled out “Free at last! [...]

An occasional problem for years in Delaware has been the sudden loss of bike lanes or other facilities with construction projects. Fortunately, this is largely relegated to the past now for several great reasons: A statewide Bicycle Policy A statewide Complete Streets Policy Ordinances requiring bike lanes (and parking) with new construction in New Castle [...]

After an exhaustive input and review process, Bike Delaware has officially submitted their position statement “Bike Lanes at Intersections with Right Turn-Only Lanes“to DelDOT for review and consideration in Delaware’s Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). It is no secret that this provision, requiring little more than a striping alteration, increases safety and comfort [...]