Engineering Safety
Safety Implementation
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Feb 2013 "Reduction of Speed limit on Stewart Avenue, west of Espina intersection."
On Feb 2013 in agreement with NMSU Traffic Engineer and Police, EH&S funded & submitted a work order to reduce the speed limit on Stewart Street west of Espina Street to improve pedestrian safety. Stewart is currently posted as 35mph west-bound from Espina to Union and east-bound from Union to Knox. This change will reduce the limit to 25mph both directions from Espina to Union.
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August 2011 Laser speed sign installation on west Steward Street by Chamisa Village
EH&S noted the purchase of a laser speed sign to be installed for west bound traffic on Steward Street by lot 39. The speed limit on Steward street from Locust to Espina has been 25 mph for many years. In 2010 with the addition of the Chamisa Village reducing the speed on Steward from Locust to Arrowhead was proposed. The new limit of 25mph was finalized and posted in March 2011. The laser speed sign will remind motorists that the speed limits are reduced in this area with high number of pedestrians.
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April 24, 2011 "Reduction of Speed limit on Stewart Avenue, east of Locust intersection."
Agreement by EH&S on behalf of Bicycle Safety Committee with NMSU Traffic Engineer to reduce speed limit on Steward through main campus pedestrian area to improve pedestrian safety. Steward is posted as 25mph from Knox to Locust. This changes current 35mph limit to 25mph from Locust to Payne/Arrowhead Road. Signs posted by May 25.
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January 12, 2011 Steward Street bike lane extended & restriped
Announcement in January Bicycle Safety Committee meeting of restriping of Stewart bike lanes. The lane have been extended along Steward Street from intersection with Knox Avenue to Arrowhead Road. This will include the restriping of the existing cross walks and installation of mid-street cross walk markers.
This restriping is to implement recommended road diet on Stewart Street to improve pedestrian and bike safety. It will also provide improvement in safety for NMSU utility cart traffic. EH&S arranged funding of this upgrade with 2010 BRR funding.
The University Safety Committee requested participation in a Bicycle Safety Advocacy Committee. Meetings are at EH&S office, room 110, Academic Research Bldg C, 1620 Standley Drive. Several in the NMSU community have raised concerns about pedestrian safety related to bicyclists and about bicycle routes at and to NMSU. This group charter is to address NMSU bicycle safety concerns.
Improve safety facilities for pedestrians and bikers
* bike lanes on campus streets:along Steward Avenue (recommended by pedestrian safety study), along Espina, other locations?
* separate bike & cart lanes? bells as warning for pedestrian safety
* changes at crosswalks to limit/slow bike riding across crosswalk
* stricter bike use rules and bicycle police enforcement
Advocate: bicyclist facilities & activities for sustainability and health
* repair & add more bike paths on campus? routes to campus?
* more bike racks & other facilities for bikers. Where? Rental bikes availability
* Campus bike rides for health? Bicycle riding competitions between departments?
Bicycle safety training
* EH&S can help arrange by providing use of the safety training facility and adjacent lot for lecture and skill training.
* Campus instructors, let me know the particulars and EH&S will try to support this endeavor.
Dr Cheri Jimeno, President of New Mexico State University – Alamogordo (NMSUA), was instrumental in the installation of the first Smart Crosswalk™ system in New Mexico (Spring 2009). She said, “These systems are very effective in making a safer crosswalk for our pedestrians."
Larry Garner, Street Superintendent City of Alamogordo, recently wrote Lightguard that “The lights up at the College are doing great. During the day they are very noticeable and by night, wow! They have been very effective for slowing people down and letting them know someone is in the crosswalk. ”[information provided March 2013 by LightGuard system]
Additional information from June 2009 Alamogordo Daily News is at
http://safety.nmsu.edu/faq/2009/2009_0615-AlamoSmartCrossWalk-DailyNews.pdf
Standards (for Bicycle & Pedestrian Safety)
In spring 2011, Federal HighWay Adminstration gave approval (interim) to, "the optional use of green colored pavement in marked bicycle lanes and in extensions of bicycle lanes through intersections and other traffic conflict areas."
The April 2011, FHWA memo notes "Positive operational... bicyclists positioning themselves more accurately. [and] ... that bicyclists and motorists both have a positive impression... In the past 10 years, they (FHWA) have received requests to experiment with green as a color to designate bikeways from many cities across the country.
The interim approval means local transportation agencies are allowed to use green for bikeways pending an official update of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD).
In development & use in Portland since 1997, the Green box is an intersection safety design to prevent bicycle/car collisions, especially those between drivers turning right and bicyclists going straight.
It is a green box on the road with a white bicycle symbol inside. It includes green bicycle lanes approaching and leading from the box.
More details on brochure at http://www.streetfilms.org/portland-green-bike-box/
How to use a bike box at http://www.streetfilms.org/how-to-use-a-bike-box/
- Road Markings / Traffic Controls for Bicycle Facilities - Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD)
- MUTCD on Traffic Controls for Bicycle Facilities (See MUTCD 2003 Edition, Revision 1, Chapter 9)
- Standard Highway Signs at http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/ser-shs_millennium_eng.htm
- NMDOT Bicycle Pedestrian Equestrian committee: Guide, Tips & bike routes map
- Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Provisions in the Federal-aid Program
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body for highway design and construction.
2010 AASHTO (Draft) Guide for the Planning, Design, and Operation of Bicycle facilities is on their website at
http://design.transportation.org/Documents/DraftBikeGuideFeb2010.pdf.
- USDOT FHWA Report: Evaluation of Safety, Design, and Operation of Shared-Use Paths
Chapter 7 Level of Service (LOS) Procedure to determine path width
Full report PDF version (July 2006 Publication: FHWA-HRT-05-137)
Shared-use paths are becoming increasingly busy in many places in the United States. The purpose of this project was to develop a level of service (LOS) estimation method for shared–use paths. The researchers developed an LOS estimation method for bicyclists that requires minimal input and produces a simple and useful result.
- method is based on the number of times a typical bicyclist meets or passes another path user, the number of those passings that are delayed, the path width, and whether the path has a centerline.
- besides the adult bicyclists the method considers four other types of path users (pedestrians, joggers, child bicyclists, and skaters)
- finding: centerline stripe clearly delineate two opposing travel lanes - finding: minimum recommended paved width of 10 ft for a two-directional shared-use path
- finding: increased passing capacity provided by three lane path (11-15 ft) improves LOS
Statistics (on Pedestrians & Bicyclists)
A pedestrian, as defined for the purpose of this Traffic Safety Fact Sheet publication, is any person on foot, walking, running, jogging, hiking, sitting or lying down who is involved in a motor vehicle traffic crash.
For the purpose of this Traffic Safety Fact Sheet a traffic crash is an incident that involves one or more vehicles where at least one vehicle is in-transport and the crash originates on a public traffic way. Crashes that occurred exclusively on private property, including parking lots and driveways, were excluded.
In 2009, 4,092 pedestrians were killed and an estimated 59,000 were injured in traffic crashes in the United States. On average, a pedestrian was killed every two hours and injured every nine minutes in traffic crashes.
- Minneapolis-St. Paul saw a 30% increase in participation in June Bike Walk Week every year beween 2009 and 2011.
Bike Walk Twin Cities in Bike.Walk.Move.org, 2011 Infographic highlights biking, walking in Twin Cities, November 1, 2011
- Between 2003 and 2007, bike commuting in Minneapolis increased 100%. Since 2000, bike crashes have declined 20% on average every year.
Bike Walk Twin Cities in Bike.Walk.Move.org, 2011 Infographic highlights biking, walking in Twin Cities, November 1, 2011
- Eighty-six percent of American workers are overweight and/or have chronic health troubles, costing companies $153 billion in lost productivity each year.
Gallup-Healthyways in Simpson, I., 2011 "Ailing and overweight Americans cost billions in productivity," 17 October 2011, Reuters US
The United States overall has great disparities between bicycling and walking mode share, safety, and funding. Twelve percent of trips are by bicycle or foot, yet bicyclists and pedestrians make up 14% of traffic fatalities and receive just 1.6% of federal transportation dollars.
An international comparison of bicycle funding and mode share shows international cities that invest greater amounts per capita in bicycling have greater levels of bicycling. These cities provide strong evidence that in order to increase bicycling and walking, the United States must invest significantly more in these modes.
Looking Outside Our Borders
The United States lags far behind other countries and international cities in regard to walk and bike share of trips, safety, and public health. The report shows, the countries and cities with the greatest levels of bicycling and walking are also the safest places to bicycle and walk. These countries also have the lowest levels of obesity and report that prioritizing bicycling and walking is good for their economies.