Delft Facilities Tour Assignment One 7-6-2015

Assignment Background

The class was split up into a group of 5 Northeastern students and 2 Portland State students with one of the professors leading the group to 5 different facility types in Delft: a two-way cycle track with raised crossings, a Woonerf (a living street) and 30kmph zone, a single lane roundabout, a bike boulevard, and a large protected intersection. My particular group was led by Peter Koonce.   Our group visited all 5 of these locations, discussed the facilities and took photos.  We were assigned to look at 3 of the facilities and document our overall reactions and suggest one specific location in the US where this facility might be applicable.  

Location A: Two-Way Cycle Track

On larger streets in the Netherlands, engineers design cycle tracks to separate (with a hard barrier) cyclists from vehicle traffic.  The two intersection directly below show the location of this two way cycle track and the photo shows street view from our visit today. As you can see the cycle track is two way for bicycles and is only on the west side of the street.  The barrier happens to be a hard curb and then a parking lane for cars. 

This is a great concept if the street is wide enough of right of way acquisition is not difficult. Separating the cyclists from the road traffic reduces stress for the cyclists and makes it safer for young and elderly riders especially.  The raised cycle track also increases the visibility of cyclists when they reach intersections.  I really like riding my bike along cycle tracks and I see the value for all cyclists in implementing them.  With a two way cycle track, the engineer consolidates the buffered area as opposed to having one way cycle tracks on each side of the roadway.  I personally like two way cycle tracks because there is a sense of flexibility for the rider and gives cyclists the opportunity to ride next to a partner when there isn’t opposing bike traffic.

USA Implementation

I think Foothill Boulevard between California Boulevard and Patricia Avenue in San Luis Obispo is a perfect location for a two-way cycle track.  The following images show an aerial of Foothill Boulevard outline in green and a typical cross section Foothill Boulevard.  Foothill Boulevard is a perfect street for a cycle track because the speed limit is 35 mph which makes the speed differential between bikes and cars large, also it is an arterial that connects two large residential neighborhoods to Cal Poly’s campus which leads to large bicycle volumes at all times of the day as well as large traffic volumes, and there is limited right of way so combining the cycle tracks together saves hardscaped buffer space.  

The two way cycle track would promote good bicycle riding behavior and encourage younger students living in these two neighborhoods to cycle to school as well as keep them safe.  There are too many bicycle accidents along this corridor and installing the two-way cycle track would hopefully eliminate those bicycle-car crashes.  Also, many times, an observer will see young adults cycling the wrong way in the current bike lanes mainly on the north side of the street so implementing a two-way cycle track would eliminate any conflicts with riding the wrong way.     

Location C: Single Lane Roundabout at Westlandseweg and Zaagmolen

Roundabouts are an intersection treatment to help users navigate opposing traffic streams.  The particular roundabout studied also had a cycle track around the automobile travel lanes which separates the bicycles from the automobiles.  The single lane keeps bicyclists and pedestrians safe from potential collisions from cars from multiple lanes.   The flared entry acts as a traffic calming measure to slow the vehicles down before entering the intersection and also gives them time to yield to any pedestrians or bicyclists crossing.  The landscaped medians serve as pedestrian refuges enabling pedestrians to cross one traffic stream at a time and also give space for automobiles to yield to bikes crossings too.   The three images directly below show the aerial view of the roundabout visited and photos taken during the site visit.

It has been thoroughly researched and documented that roundabouts increase safety for all users.  The cars enter the roundabout slower than a signalized intersection and there are few conflict points for users to get into crashes.   It was very interesting for me to visit this roundabout because I have never seen a roundabout with a cycle track.   In the US, bicycles are treated like a second class mode and normally pushed to the side, making then a stressful intersection to bike through.  I felt very safe biking around this roundabout and I really wish we had these in the US.  The striping makes it easy for all vehicles and pedestrians to understand where each’s space is and to yield when appropriate while still not blocking other traffic streams.  I really think it is brilliant and it was nice to see school age children using the roundabout biking either to or from school without parents because they felt safe.

USA Implementation

I think the intersection of Chorro Street and Palm Avenue would be a good candidate for roundabout with a cycle track.  This intersection is close to San Luis Obispo’s downtown with a lot of vehicle, bike, and pedestrian traffic.  Separating each mode would decrease the number of accidents and the accident severity at this intersection.  This intersection is close to one of San Luis Obispo’s high schools which would hopefully encourage bike riding to and from school.   The following two pictures are the aerial view of the intersection in relation to San Luis Obispo’s downtown and the street view of two of the intersection approaches for the intersection.  

It is imperative to maintain safe connections for residents from the neighborhoods to the City’s economic center.  I think upgrading this intersection to a single lane roundabout with a cycle track on both Palm and Chorro would facilitate more bicycle activity in this area which would ultimately be good for businesses and the resident’s health.  The roundabout could reduce delay, reduce accidents and crash severity, and facilitate safe crossings for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Location E: Protected Signalized Intersections

Our group visited the signalized intersection of Ruys de Beerenbrouckstraat and Princes Beatrixlaan.  This intersection is a very large intersection with cycle tracks for the bicycles.  The bicycles are given their own phase to cross to eliminate the conflict with the right turning vehicles.  The refuges in the middle of the intersection decrease the travel time for the pedestrians because they only have tocross one stream of traffic at a time and therefore decrease the total cycle length for the intersection.  Also, unique to the Netherlands, the bicyclists have a “WACHT” sign (WAIT sign) which illuminates when the bicycle push button is pressed.  Small white LED’s also illuminate around the “WACHT” sign which count down the number of second the cyclist has to wait.  Because there is a cycle track, bicycles make a left turn in two phases which eliminates conflicts with automobiles and is much safer.  The three images directly below show the aerial view of the intersection visited and photos taken during the site visit.

Using this intersection as both and pedestrian and bicycles was very easy.  The pedestrian refuge was wide enough I didn’t feel uncomfortable waiting the second pedestrian signal to turn green.  Also, as a bicyclist it was really neat to see how much waiting time was left before the light turned green.  I really wish we had those countdown bicycle and pedestrians signal heads to countdown how much waiting time is left.  These little heads cost about $700 - $800 per unit and I really think it would enhance the pedestrian and bicyclist experience.

USA Implementation

I think the intersection of Santa Rosa and Foothill could use the concepts discussed above.  The cycle track would make crossing this very wide intersection easier and safer for bicyclists.  This intersection sees many cyclists throughout the day because it is adjacent to medical offices, the hospital, and Cal Poly.   Adding a refuge in the middle of the approaches would reduce the required green time for pedestrians to cross the street because the pedestrian refuge would give them a safe place to stop.    The following two pictures show the aerial view of the intersection and a street view’s current conditions.