Hillsborough County Complete Streets Guide

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5 INTERSECTIONS AND MID-BLOCK CROSSINGS People should feel comfortable approaching and crossing streets. Every intersection should work for every person, regardless of how they choose to interact with the street. The decisions taken by pedestrians about where to cross a road usually involve trade-offs between safety and convenience (Sharples and Fletcher, 2001, Rankavat and Tiwari, 2016). 32 The option of crossing away from designated crossing facilities increases the risk of vehicle-pedestrian collision but is often chosen because it is the quickest and most direct way to reach the other side (Demiroz et al., 2015). 33 This chapter implements the Comprehensive Plan’s vision for Hillsborough County regarding intersection and crossing design. Intersections should be efficient for all users. Intersections In urban and suburban contexts, intersections, crossings, and mid-block treatments generally represent the highest risk locations within the transportation network. On most roadways, all modes are guided to interact at intersections; therefore, the majority of vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to bike/pedestrian conflicts occur at intersections. Intersections should be designed to maximize the safety of all users and abilities. Complete intersections do more than just accept people walking, biking, or taking transit. They facilitate these mode choices and create environments in which a child walking her

bike through an intersection feels just as comfortable as the elderly man crossing the street and the commuter driving his car as shown in Figure 5-1. Each mode requires specific accommodations. A person walking or biking is not expected to pass through an intersection in the same manner as a vehicle. It is important to anticipate the needs of different users at intersections. Intersections

Figure 5-1 Multimodal Intersection, NACTO

must be sized appropriately for all users. A vehicle may pass through an intersection at 20 MPH, a person biking may pass through the same intersection at eight MPH and a person walking may pass through at two MPH. The larger the intersection, the longer it takes a user

32 Illegal road crossing behavior of pedestrians at overpass locations: Factors affecting gap acceptance, crossing times and overpass use, Accident Analysis & Prevention, 80, 220-228., Demiroz, Y. I., Onelcin, P., & Alver, Y. A.L.Ç.I.N. (2015). Pedestrian perceptions of road crossing facilities. Edinburgh: Scottish Executive Central Research Unit., Sharples, J. M., & Fletcher, J. P. (2000). 33 Pedestrians perceptions for utilization of pedestrian facilities–Delhi, India., Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and behaviour, 42, 495-499., Rankavat, S., & Tiwari, G. (2016).

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