Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Road Design

Study: Too Many Drivers Fail to Look for Pedestrians When Turning Left

By Tanya Snyder | Apr 4, 2013 | 28 Comments

Drivers turning left are a leading cause of pedestrian crashes in urban areas. Where drivers can only turn left with a green left-turn arrow, pedestrians are more protected. But when drivers are watching oncoming traffic for a chance to make their turn, they tend not to be as vigilant as they should to watch for […]

The Votes Are In: Omaha Abomination Voted Worst Intersection in the U.S.

By Angie Schmitt | Feb 5, 2013 | 49 Comments

Well, it was a tough competition for America’s Worst Intersection, with a lot of worthy contenders — the kind of intersections that would make an Olympic sprinter nervous. But the people have spoken — 468 of them — and in the end it wasn’t even close. Our winner is Omaha, Nebraska’s intersection of 132nd Street, […]

Road Diets Are Changing American Cities for the Better

By Angie Schmitt | Jan 23, 2013 | 8 Comments

If it can work on Edgewater Drive in Orlando, it can work anywhere. This road diet — or “street rightsizing” — removed one traffic lane on a four lane road through 1.5 miles of the city’s College Park neighborhood. Since then, traffic collisions are down 34 percent. Pedestrian activity increased 23 percent and cycling rose […]

Study: Protected Bike Lanes Reduce Injury Risk Up to 90 Percent

By Angie Schmitt | Oct 22, 2012 | 21 Comments

A study by researchers at the University of British Columbia provides compelling new evidence that bike infrastructure makes cyclists safer — a lot safer. The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, examined the circumstances around the injuries of 690 cyclists who wound up in emergency rooms in Vancouver and Toronto during a six […]

NACTO Beats the Clock With Quick Update of Bike Guide

By Tanya Snyder | Sep 6, 2012 | 6 Comments

Once again, the National Association of City Transportation Officials has proven what an agile, modern coalition of transportation agencies is capable of. It was just a year and a half ago that NACTO released its first Urban Bikeway Design Guide and today, it’s released the first update to that guide. NACTO’s guide is far ahead of the industry standard, […]

The Projections Fallacy

By Charles Marohn | Jul 23, 2012 | 12 Comments

Cross-posted from Streets.MN. We spend billions every year in this country on our transportation network, large percentages of it based on traffic projections. This despite the fact that we have a long record of not being able to accurately project traffic. The answer isn’t better projections but a better transportation system, one that is robust […]

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