After a 19-year hiatus, the city is restarting its traffic calming program to combat the growing pedestrian death crisis.
Almost two decades after Salt Lake City’s last traffic calming projects, a rise in pedestrian deaths has prompted the city to revive its traffic calming program. Jordan Miller details the city’s plan in an article for the Salt Lake Tribune.
A 2019 study assessed the city’s most dangerous roads and potential solutions for improving traffic safety. “The study’s final report identified 403.5 miles of roadway within Salt Lake City for possible improvements and divided those streets into 113 prioritized zones — based on crash data, speed data, demographics and community assets like schools.”
Program components include three versions of speed bumps, raised crosswalks to improve pedestrian visibility, pedestrian refuge islands, and roundabouts. Many of these treatments function best when combined: pedestrian refuge islands and raised crosswalks, for example, provide the most added safety when combined with other speed deflection measures.
See the source article for projected costs and more details on each type of project, the extent of which will depend on future funding.
Read the full story: In Salt Lake City, here’s what kind of ‘traffic-calming’ projects could be coming to your street
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