Quote of the Week: Wesley Marshall on Cul-de-sacs

A lot of people feel that they want to live in a cul-de-sac, they feel like it's a safer place to be.  The reality is yes, you're safer - if you never leave your cul-de-sac. But if you actually move around town like a normal person, your town as a whole is much more dangerous.

Wesley Marshall of the University of Colorado co-authored a study that compiled data on 230,000 crashes over 11 years in 24 mid-sized towns in California.  The safest neighborhoods all tended to be built prior to 1930 on more traditional interconnected grids.  Read on at the Atlantic.

Friday Factiod: Transit Time Warp

Transit carries less than 4 percent of work trips in the Atlanta metro region today — down from nearly 17 percent in 1960.

via The Transport Politic

If transit carried 17 percent of work trips today... we probably wouldn't need to widen as many roads...

Why I'm a Car Hater...

30,797

I got to thinking about this when I read about two fatal auto crashes today in the AJC.  One was a pedestrian killed when crossing Roswell Rd in Sandy Springs earlier today and another was a crash in Milledgeville where two Georgia College freshmen from Gwinnett were killed.

First, let me tell you that cars are incredibly useful.. I have two.  I’m not getting rid of them.  I’ve owned 6 different cars in my life.  I liked them all and loved some of them.  We need them because we can’t function ‘normally’ without them.  But, the more I think about it, they all suck in ways that you don’t normally consider when you’re driving around.  Here’s why I hate cars:

• Safety - They kill people.. they kill LOTS of people.  Driving a car on a daily basis is the most dangerous activity that most Americans regularly participate in.  Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people aged 5-34 in the US.  Your odds of dying in a car crash in any given year are about 1:6500 (est.).  This equates to roughly a 1:83 lifetime chance of dying in a car crash.  Traffic fatalities vary greatly in a given year and usually range from 30k to 40k.  There were 30,797 in 2009.  Fortunately, US fatality rates have been declining in recent years.  Now, we’re all going to die but traffic fatalities are frustrating because most are preventable in some way.  My Solution: Build places that don’t rely on the car to function.
• Cost - Car related costs account for around 20% of most American families’ expenses.  That’s a lot of money to spend on a depreciating asset.  It does get you around but so do your two feet.  The average car costs about $8,000 per year to own and operate.  Most families own two.  So, let’s just say most families have one nicer car and one older car and conservatively call it $12,000 per year.  Let’s start the counter at the age of 25 and say we own a car through our 75th year.  That’s $600,000 in money that could be significantly reduced by cutting back on car ownership.  That’s not chump change.  Neither is this, the US spent $959.9B on road construction and maintenance in the 12 mos ending July 2011.  That’s almost a Trillion.  Let’s not forget the estimated lifetime medical costs from serious auto injuries.  This totaled roughly $99B in 2009, third behind cancer and heart disease.  That’s just the crashes that occurred in 2009!!!  That a Trillion in 10 years.  These are all budget busters.  My Solution: Build places that don’t rely on the car to function. 
• Health - Aside from safety, they are a health hazard.  Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxides all pose health hazards.  Additionally, car pollutants combine to form ozone which influences asthma, most notably in children.  We also need to consider the amount of time people sit on their rears commuting burning virtually no calories.  It’s no coincidence that as our sprawling development pattern has permeated the countryside, our waistlines have sprawled out in a highly correlated direction.  Finally, let’s not forget the hundreds of thousands of serious injuries that are sustained in car crashes.  These are all REAL problems that could be mitigated.  My Solution: Build places that don’t rely on the car to function.
• Sanity - Just watch drivers.  People get crazy when they get behind the wheel.  Observe yourself and you might find that you act differently too.  How do you react when a car suddenly gets in front of you on a road versus when a person suddenly gets in front of you on a sidewalk?  The car is a bubble that creates distance and mutes communication.  Speeds beyond 20mph take humans beyond speeds that we have evolved to function at.  This takes us into an environment that we aren’t as equipped to function in.  We don’t know how to react and we have no real way to communicate and thus we resort to anger or conflict.  We need to stop the insanity.  My Solution: Build places that don’t rely on the car to function.

To dive into these concepts in more depth, check out the book Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt.  It should be required reading for everyone on the road.  There are also some good facts on the CDC’s Motor Vehicle Safety page as well.

If we build places that don’t rely on the car to function, we’ll have a lot more good people around for a lot longer.  We need to stand up against widening roads, building unnecessary roads and decreasing connectivity.  Our congestion problems can be solved by getting people out of their cars, not by encouraging the same behavior that causes the congestion.  This will in turn save thousands of lives.

This post is in memory of all my family and friends who have died in car crashes.  

Quote of the Week: Timothy Lee on Mixed-Use, Zoning & Density

In the decades after World War II, urban planners across the country pursued a variety of aggressive “get people into their cars” policies. They used the power of eminent domain to push freeways through the heart of urban areas, destroying some neighborhoods outright and cutting others off from the rest of the city. They passed zoning restrictions that systematically discouraged high-density urban living. Many of these laws are still on the books to this day. In addition to restricting building heights and mixed-use development, these zoning codes almost invariably force developers to provide parking for new construction projects, whether the market demands it or not.

The results of these policies—convenient automobile access to the heart of the city, plentiful parking, inflated rents in the city compared to the suburbs, spread-out neighborhoods that are hard to traverse on foot—creates the illusion that people are freely choosing a suburban, auto-oriented lifestyle. But this is like saying the market has freely chosen to sweeten products using high fructose corn syrup while ignoring corn subsidies and sugar tariffs.

excerpted from Libertarians and the Urban Planning Culture War from Forbes

Quote of the Week: Chuck Mahron on Suburbia

We often forget that the American pattern of suburban development is an experiment, one that has never been tried anywhere before.  We assume it is the natural order because it is what we see all around us.  But our own history -- let alone a tour of other parts of the world -- reveals a different reality.  Across cultures, over thousands of years, people have traditionally built places scaled to the individual.  It is only the last two generations that we have scaled places to the automobile.

Chuck Mahron is the Executive Director of Strong Towns

You Spin Me Right Round...

The inside word is that the Grimes Bridge|Norcross St roundabout has been an incredible success in the roughly four months it has been open.  I was curious about the crash record of the new roundabout and learned that since it opened, there had been ZERO wrecks until just earlier this week when there was a fender bender involving a car in the round about hitting a car exiting the roundabout that was forced to stop behind a truck schoolbus that was stopped outside the roundabout.  

Is that really a roundabout related crash?  Who knows?  Let's just say it is.  That means one crash has occurred in four months.  That intersection was previously one of Roswell's most crash prone and if I am not mistaken was the most crash prone intersection that did not involve an arterial highway.  The annual crash total was in the mid thirties.  We can safely say that the crash rate at that intersection has been cut by ~90% at this point in it's life.  WOW!

Additionally, I've taken this route several times at rush hour and many times throughout the day.  The reduction in wait times has been amazing.  Double WOW! 

Kudos Roswell on a well thought out and well designed solution to what was a dangerous intersection.  There are other roundabouts planned in Roswell and North Fulton and we can only hope they have the same success as this one.

Fun Fact: Hammond Road Interchange

The new Hammond Road interchange in Sandy Springs will open tomorrow.  It's been a long time coming.  The Fun Fact here is that the project cost a whopping $18,000,0000.  That's roughly $12M for the bridge, $5M for the ramps, $500k for lighting, fences, etc.  Here's the link from the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Legitimate Reason to Not Like Public Transit

I’m not a fan of the buses here in North Fulton...  Well, I would be if there were better routes and more frequency... but I’m definitely not a fan of this bus.

image: FailBlog.org

The Transit Tax - What's In it For Roswell?

I have intentionally stayed quiet while all of the wrangling has been going on to shave the list of transit projects down from roughly $23 billion to the $6.14 billion.  This was in part to keep me from getting my hopes up and then dashed when projects were cut from the list.  Fair warning, the current constrained list (pdf) of $6.14B is by no means the final list.  There will be wrangling all the way through Oct of this year when the final list is selected by the Regional Roundtable.  However, we’re closer now than ever.  So, there are two questions I have:

1. What’s in it for Roswell?
2. Should Roswell vote for it?

Let’s start by taking a look at what’s in it for Roswell.  The first thing that I noticed was that most of the road projects in the North Subregion are slated to receive full funding, $440M total.  The Roswell specific road projects would receive $133M.  This is roughly 2% of the available pie and Roswell represents about 2% of the region’s population.  Seems fair to me.  The tax would also kick in $37M of the $900M needed to bring rail to the Holcomb Bridge/400 interchange.  Here’s a list of the projects that directly impact Roswell: 

• SR 9 (Atlanta Street) from Chattahoochee River to SR 120 (Marietta Highway) ‐ Widening and Corridor Improvements - $20.4M  - This is a project that is near and dear to my heart as I live along the corridor and am part of the Community Advisory Group.  This funding will significantly help accomplish the goals that the community has in mind.  However, I am concerned that the use of regional funds will take away some of the leverage that the community would have in ensuring that the environment improves not only the traffic flow but the community it flows through.
• SR 140 (Houze Road) from Rucker Road to Mansell Road ‐ Operational Improvements - $18.6M - I’m not sure of the exact details on this one.
• SR 400 at SR 140 (Holcomb Bridge Road) ‐ Interchange Improvements - $48M - This has been a long time coming.  The city has proposed some minor changes to the intersection in the short term but this should help improve overall flow and capacity at the interchange while also enabling the city to kick in some for aesthetics.  We need a gateway to Roswell and this is our chance.
• SR 140 (Arnold Mill Road) from Cherokee County Line to Rucker Road ‐ Widening - $46M - As you know, I’m not a widening fan but given our current situation in this area, this one is a necessary evil.  
• MARTA North Heavy Rail Line Extension to SR 140 - $37M - It’s a start.  But, it might be better spent on something that’s actually going to happen such as the Beltline or the Cobb Light Rail.

Another absolutely huge project that will impact North Fulton is the improvement of the interchange at 400 & 285.  In the current list, there is $450M budgeted for this project.  Considering that the northern section of 285 between 75 and 85 is consistently recognized as one of the most congested roads in Atlanta, if not the nation, I’d say this is a big win.  Improving flow at this interchange could significantly improve commutes for many Roswell and North Fulton residents.

 Some other personal favorites of mine are:

• Atlanta Beltline Streetcar Circulator and Trail - $601.8M
• Northwest Corridor (Acworth to Arts Center Station) Fixed Guideway Transit ‐ Phase 1 from Midtown to Cumberland - $856.5M

So, should we vote for it?  All in all, I believe there is a good mix of Transit and Road projects on this list and it should definitely be considered seriously.  Here’s a quick list of Pro’s and Con’s:

Pros:  

• Local road projects are all virtually fully funded
• Roswell is represented fairly
• North Fulton may be over represented
• It’s really our only option as a Region if we want to do something at all

Cons:  

• Most larger projects are not fully funded and will rely on currently unknown sources of funds (federal, state &/or private public partnerships).
• MARTA to Holcomb Bridge is a pittance with $37M and might as well be reallocated
• More road projects than transit advocates would like to see.  Could have more bus funding in exchange for some road widening
• Allocation of funds to specific projects is not set in stone so things could change once the dirty pols get their paws on the money
• It is a tax albeit a small one (about $10/month per metro Atlanta resident) 

One last thing...  This tax will fail unless it is moved to the general election ballot.  The region deserves to be represented fairly and having this on a republican primary ballot will not generate a turnout that is representative of the region.  Fortunately, Gov. Deal gets this and has put this on the agenda for the current special session for the general assembly.   

It’s our only chance to actually move the political and traffic gridlock that has existed for the past 10 years in our region.  I’m voting for it.  I might have to give up a lunch each month but I just might save some money in gas and more importantly time.  Where it stands right now, I'm for this tax and given what our sub-region has to gain, it's hard to argue that the rest of North Fulton shouldn't be for it as well.

Homicide by Design?

This story has been all over the place locally and nationally.  Raquel Nelson, mother of three, lost her 4 year-old son in a hit-and-run incident in April while crossing a divided highway (Austell Rd) in Marietta from a MARTA bus stop to her apartment.  There were no pedestrian crossings within a third of a mile.  The spot where she crossed was a de facto crossing legitimized by the fact that MARTA had bus stop there to cater to exactly those apartment dwellers and homes in that area.  The driver had a history of hit and run, had had several beers earlier in the day and was on pain medication.  We won’t re-hash the details but suffice to say that the driver peaded out for a lesser charge of hit-and-run down from a charge of vehicular manslaughter and the mother has been convicted of vehicular homicide and is awaiting sentencing.  She doesn't own a car, wasn't in a car and lost her 4 year-old son.  You can judge for yourself on whether this is fair or just.  Transportation 4 America has a worthwhile interpretation of the details.  

This picture illustrates the accident side well.  What rational person wouldn’t be enticed by that proximity with the alternative being a walk of half to three quarters of a mile with three children in tow and grocery bags in hand?

The route Raquel Nelson, her children and other bus riders used is in dotted green. There are no safe crossings in sight. (Image: Transportation4America)

So, where could this happen in Roswell?  Here are the areas that I think are most prone to an incident of this nature.

Holcomb Bridge & 400 - The first spot that comes to mind for me is on Holcomb Bridge Road between 400 and Dogwood.  Pedestrians ALWAYS cross between the Chevron and the Shell to get to or from the MARTA stop in front of the Shell station.  At least there is an ample median.

Frequent pedestrian crossings occur here. This is an area of concern that the city of Roswell is currently addressing with a project starting this month. (Image: Bing Maps)

South Atlanta Street - The next spot my list is the MARTA stop on South Atlanta Street on the north bound lane across from Chattahoochee Landing Apartments.  Here bus riders must cross three lanes of traffic (reversible) with no refuge.  They must wait on a sidewalk that is narrow and perilously close to the roadway.  

This crossing is dangerous given the reversible lanes and high traffic. The Historic Roswell Gateway project will help address this but that is a very long term solution for this immediate need. (Image: Bing Maps)

Add to the comments if you know of any other obviously poorly designed/located MARTA stops in Roswell.  Also, if this interests you at all, you really should take the time to read these additional articles in addition to the Transportation 4 America article linked to earlier.

When Design Kills: The Criminalization of Walking - Grist

The Lonesome Death of a Child Pedestrian - The Infrastructurist

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