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Office of Planning & Engineering 645 Pine Street, Suite A
Burlington, VT 05402 802.863.9094 P / 802.863.0466
F 802.863.0450 TTY www.burlingtonvt.gov/DPW
Chapin Spencer
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS
Date: September 30, 2014
To: City Council
From: Nicole Losch, Transportation Planner
Subject: North Avenue Corridor Study: Project Summary
Why North Avenue?
In 2011 the Burlington Transportation Plan was unanimously
adopted by the City Council as a chapter of the city’s
Municipal Development Plan, which classified North
Avenue as a Complete Street. The Transportation
Plan provides very clear guidance for
implementing Great Streets (emphasis added):
“A major component of this Transportation Plan is a shift to a “complete streets” strategy and the new Street Design Guidelines. Streets are classified (see Figure 1) as: 1. Complete Street; 2.Transit Street and the Bicycle Street; 3. The Slow Street; 4. State Truck Routes; and 5. Neighborhood Streets.
In general, Burlington’s gateway streets must carry all travel modes – cars and trucks, buses,
bikes, and pedestrians - because no alternatives exist. Typically, these streets today include four travel
lanes with no space for bikes and poor pedestrian crossings. A Complete Street could include: 1) enhanced
transit stop; 2) traffic calming by removing a lane of through traffic; 3) short pedestrian crossings; 4) bike
lanes; 5) updated utilities and lighting; 6) landscaped median island and turn lane; 7) stormwater planters; and 8) tree belts.
Memo
Figure 1:
Some of the Complete Street conversions in Burlington will involve reducing the number of travel lanes from four to three. There will be concerns about whether a single through travel lane in each direction is sufficient to carry traffic. This issue will need to be addressed on a case-by-case basis in the scoping process, but preliminary analysis suggests that conversion is possible for the four-lane sections identified in Figure 1 except for Main Street through the UVM Campus where no changes are recommended. In addition, conversions elsewhere in the U.S. generally have resulted in reduced [crash] rates and less speeding. In almost all cases, urban street capacity is limited at intersections rather than along street segments. Therefore, it is often possible to reduce width without increasing congestion. Furthermore, in a four-lane street, the left lanes operate inefficiently due to conflicts between left-turning vehicles and through vehicles. Moving the left turning vehicles out of through traffic removes these conflicts and also generally reduces accident rates.
Some features of the design shown in Figure 2, including the median treatment, could be modified during the scoping process. In many cases, a Complete Street can be tested with simple re-striping. The only essential element of a complete street is accommodating all travel modes safely and efficiently.”
The Corridor Study Process
At the request of the DPW, the Chittenden County
Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) advanced this
corridor study in 2013. An Advisory Committee was
convened to provide input from a range of
perspectives, review materials throughout the process,
communicate with their organizations / constituents,
and participate in developing the vision, goals,
improvement concepts and recommendations for
consideration by the City. The Advisory Committee
included Burlington City Council; Neighborhood
Planning Assemblies for Wards 4, 7, and 3; Chittenden
County Transportation Authority (CCTA), AARP,
Burlington Partnership for Healthy Communities, Local
Motion, and Burlington City Departments.
Three public meetings were hosted during the study:
1) to report the existing conditions and to allow the community to identify issues; 2) to
identify concepts that may remedy the issues; and 3) select the concept(s) that should be
considered for implementation. Special meetings were also organized to gather feedback
from schools and residents of senior housing along the corridor, and additional feedback
was solicited through the project website, an online map-based input tool, emailed
comments, and feedback from Advisory Committee-member led meetings.
Figure 3: Corridor Study Process
Figure 2:
EXISTING CONDITIONS & KNOWN ISSUES
North Avenue has a consistent 66’ right-of-way (ROW), although the functional ROW south of
Convent Square is less due to the proximity of development directly adjacent to, or encroaching within,
the ROW. CCTA services North Avenue via Route 7, traversing the corridor along travel lanes that
vary from wide 2-lane sections to 4 narrow lanes. Bicycle facilities are inconsistent and on-street
parking regulations and use change throughout the corridor. Several intersections are skewed
and offset, encouraging high-speed right turns and presenting challenges with visibility. Driveways
are frequent, and land uses vary from single family, multi-family, scattered retail, and institutions.
The greenbelt accommodates overhead utilities and street trees and is generally quite wide, except for
the west side of the corridor north of Institute Road.
Given the varied land uses and potential for growth throughout the corridor, future traffic conditions
are projected to increase 5% on the VT 127, 10% between Plattsburg Avenue and the VT 127
intersection, and 15% south of the VT 127 intersection. Current average daily traffic (ADT) volumes
reflect the housing that is accessed via North Avenue: the highest traffic volume exists between the VT
127 intersection and Ethan Allen Parkway (19,100 ADT), the lowest between Plattsburg Avenue and
Staniford Road (10,800 ADT), and moderate volumes elsewhere (13,700 ADT between Staniford Road
and Ethan Allen Parkway; 12,000 ADT between VT 127 and North Street).
Nearly one-half of North Avenue experiences more frequent crashes than the average rate for similar
roadways statewide (Figure 4).
North Avenue between Lakewood
Parkway and Ethan Allen Parkway
experiences the most severe
crashes, largely involving at-angle
crashes associated with turning
traffic. Six of the corridor crashes
involved pedestrians.
Pedestrian crossing opportunities
are very infrequent and
pedestrian facilities (sidewalks,
curb ramps, and signals) are in
poor condition or insufficient. On-
street parking is permitted in many
sections, but the wide travel way
and lack of parking pavement
markings north of Shore Road
makes parking unclear.
Figure 4: High Crash Locations
VISION AND GOALS
In 2012 the EPA hosted a “Complete Streets Implementation Workshop” for Burlington. The workshop
included local decisionmakers and city staff, and a citywide vision for complete streets was drafted. This
vision was refined for North Avenue by the Advisory Committee and through public meetings:
North Avenue will continue to serve as the primary transportation corridor connecting Burlington’s
New North End with the rest of the City.
As the North End’s “Main Street,” North Avenue will provide for safe, inviting, and convenient
travel for all users of all ages and abilities—including motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, and
public transportation riders.
The need to move people through the corridor will be balanced with the need to provide
access to homes, businesses, and local institutions.
The corridor will develop into an attractive public space through creative streetscape,
signage, and other site design features.
The corridor will become more livable and desirable by promoting social interaction,
public health, economic development and environmentally sustainable initiatives.
To implement this vision, our goals for North Avenue are:
• Remake the North Ave corridor into a “Complete Street” that accommodates the
safe and efficient travel for all users of all abilities and provides transportation choices.
• Achieve a world class transportation corridor that offers quality of service and highest
safety for those who walk, bicycle, and travel by motor vehicle or transit.
• Identify near-term improvements that can be implemented now to improve the safe and
convenient accommodation of all corridor users.
• Develop a longer-term plan for fully remaking the corridor according to “Complete
Streets” principals.
• Improve safety for all users.
• Pedestrians – improve condition of sidewalks and upgrade to meet current ADA
standards; identify convenient/desirable crossing locations; and incorporate high
visibility and driver awareness measures at crosswalks.
• Bicyclists – provide dedicated space and bicycle treatments to form a continuous, high
quality bicycle corridor that facilitates travel in and out of the New North End.
• Design facilities with all users in mind including children and seniors.
• Address high crash locations and congested locations.
• Improve access management and left turn accommodations on the corridor to reduce
conflicts.
• Calm traffic and moderate travel speeds.
• Provide a range of convenient and efficient travel options and improve multimodal
connections.
• Promote transportation options.
• Improve transit service in the corridor:
• Reduce headways
• Add shelters
• Increase span of service during the day and weekend service
• Ensure efficient flow of buses along the corridor
• Improve access (sidewalks, bike access) to transit shelters/stops
• Improve pedestrian facilities.
• Develop a safe, efficient and continuous bicycle network.
• Promote Transportation Demand Management (TDM) initiatives in the corridor.
• Develop strategies that support vibrant and livable neighborhoods in the New North End;
enhance the quality of life of residents and visitors; and support sustainable economic growth.
OPTIONS FOR NORTH AVENUE
To address existing and future transportation issues in the corridor several types of improvements
were considered for intersections, travel lanes, parking, pedestrian facilities, and bicycle facilities.
The universe of options that were considered included:
Intersection signal improvements, re-alignment, high-speed turn elimination, and/or
roundabouts.
Travel lane width reduction, travel lane reduction, turn lane creation, and/or lanes for bicycle
facilities.
On-street parking on one-side, both sides, and/or parking removal.
Pedestrian-related crosswalks, signal improvements, and/or gateway treatments.
Bicycle-related on-road improvements (shared lanes or buffered/protected/regular bike lanes)
and/or protected bike lanes.
Concepts were refined through public meetings and Advisory Committee input, and the concepts
were evaluated for their ability to meet the vision and goals for North Avenue. Cross-section
concepts (lane assignments and parking) were analyzed and presented in an evaluation matrix to reflect
their consistency with Burlington’s Complete Streets Design Guidelines; impacts on safety for all users
(traffic stress for bicyclists, turning conflicts, transit conflicts, accessibility, traffic speed); multi-modal
connectivity (transit access and amenities, access to bicycling destinations); ROW impacts (greenbelt
and new ROW needs); and maintainability. Intersection concepts were analyzed and presented in an
evaluation matrix to reflect their impacts on transportation choices (traffic operations: LOS, vehicle
delays and queues); safety for all users (traffic stress for bicyclists, accessibility, pedestrian experience,
and traffic speeds); and ROW impacts (greenbelt and new ROW needs).
Concepts were also evaluated for their potential to improve the physical health and mental well-being
of the North End Community. The Vermont Department of Health completed a Health Impact
Assessment (HIA), which “is a systematic, flexible approach that uses data, research, and stakeholder
input to assess the potential health impacts of policies or projects.” This HIA complements the North
Avenue corridor study by answering the following questions: What are the potential health impacts of
proposed changes to North Avenue? Which proposals have the most potential to improve the health of
vulnerable populations? Figure 5 explores the relevant components of the proposals, the most
important health impacts, and the linkages between the two.
Figure 5: HIA Exploration of North Ave Concepts and Linkages to Health Impacts
A QUICK INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN TERMINOLOGY
Split phasing: two
intersection
approaches will have
consecutive signal
time rather than
concurrent
(no image)
Leading Pedestrian
Interval (LPI): a head
start for pedestrians
entering an
intersection before the
concurrent green
signal for traffic in the
same direction
Bike Lanes: a
dedicated space for
cyclists, delineated
with a white line
(encroachment by
vehicle doors when
adjacent to a parking
lane)
Buffered Bike Lanes:
one or both sides of a
bike lane incorporate a
painted buffer for
increased cycling
comfort and to reduce
the risk of dooring
On-street one-way
protected bike lanes:
street-level bike lane
between the motor
vehicle travel lane and
the sidewalk,
protected from
moving traffic by a
physical barrier
Raised one-way cycle
track: a protected bike
lane raised to sidewalk
level
On-street two-way
cycle track: street-
level two-way bicycle
lane between the
motor vehicle travel
lane and the sidewalk,
protected from
moving traffic by a
physical barrier
Raised two-way cycle
track: a two-way cycle
track raised to
sidewalk level
NORTH AVENUE CORRIDOR DRAFT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS
After deliberation across two meetings, the Advisory Committee and the Study Team identified the final
concepts and implementation schedule for the City to consider. The draft implementation plan was
presented to the Transportation, Energy, and Utilities Committee (TEUC) at their September 10, 2014
meeting and the Committee voted to advance the following draft implementation plan for
consideration by City Council.
The DRAFT implementation plan is based on:
• Short term = minimal design, with additional public process as required for regulatory changes
or project benefit, and completion within 1-3 years
• Medium term = design needed, with public process included in design process and estimated
completion within 3-7 years
• Long term = evaluation, scoping and design needed, with public process included throughout
those processes and the estimated completion is more than 7 years
Short-Term DRAFT Implementation Concepts
The short-term cross sections will involve a pilot
project with the following elements (see Figure 6):
Three-lane configuration between
Shore Road and VT 127, with 10.5 foot
travel lanes and 4.5 foot bike lanes
All parking eliminated north of
Washington Street*
Bike lanes, enhanced/buffered where
space allows
Protected bike lanes (with flex posts)
from VT127 to Institute Road
As needed, replace drainage grates with
bike friendly grates
*Please note that the elimination of parking will
require approval by the Public Works Commission.
The short-term intersection improvements will
include:
1. At all intersections, ADA-compliant curb
ramps, crosswalks on all approaches of
signalized intersections; audible pedestrian
countdown timers with a minimum 5-
Figure 6: Recommendation for Short-Term Cross Sections
second (push-button) Leading Pedestrian Interval (LPI); and bicycle facilities maintained
through intersections (where provided in advance of intersections).
2. Shore Road: increase pedestrian crossing
times, split phasing for the Shore Road /
Heineberg Road approaches, pedestrian-
activated no right turn on red
3. Ethan Allen Shopping Center: increase
pedestrian crossing times, pedestrian-
activated no right turn on red.
4. VT 127: optimize the signal timing to
achieve more efficiency, close the high-
speed northbound ramp, remove the free-
flow westbound ramp and the gantry over
North Avenue, gateway treatments.
5. Institute Road: fix motor vehicle detection,
reduce intersection footprint with paint,
relocate northbound bus shelter, realign
southbound sidewalk, pedestrian-activated
no right turn on red.
6. New unsignalized crosswalks were also offered at regular intervals that would meet the
Transportation Plan guidelines and provide access to transit stops across North Avenue. These
potential locations were narrowed with input from the community through the online input tool
and final public meeting. This shortened list was prioritized by the Advisory Committee, for
implementation of 3-5 new crosswalks within the short-term implementation plan (listed in
order of priority/tied votes):
1) Burlington College
2) Gosse Court
3) Killarney Drive / Village Green Drive (only compatible with a 3-lane cross section)
4) Green Acres / Cayuga Court
5) Ward Street
Each crosswalk location will be evaluated to determine the best type of treatments, ranging from a
basic crosswalk consisting of crosswalk markings and signs to a fully enhanced crosswalk consisting of
warning beacons, advanced warning signs, and refuge islands.
Short-term transit improvements will include:
1. Up to three additional shelters at high ridership stops (pending funding)
2. Larger shelters at Burlington High School
Medium-Term DRAFT Implementation Concepts
The medium-term preferred concepts for intersections include:
1. Plattsburg Avenue: eliminate high-speed
northbound right turn (realign signal and
extend southeast curb), resolve Tracy Drive
/ Merola’s Market access , exclusive
pedestrian phase on south crosswalk,
pedestrian activated no right on red,
gateway treatments
2. Shore Road: if ROW is donated or easily
acquired, realign Shore Road, keep longer
crossing times and pedestrian-activated no
right on red.
3. Ethan Allen Parkway: scoping study to
relocate Park entrance and remove from
intersection, add Little Eagle Bay into
signal, eliminate high-speed northbound
right turn.
4. North Street: parking lot right in / right
out or curb cut removal, realign north and
south crosswalks, add protected /
permitted southbound left turns,
pedestrian-activated no right turn on red.
5. Washington Street: raised intersection,
pedestrian-activated rapid flashing beacon,
gateway treatments (pavement
material/color to be decided)
6. Additional unsignalized crosswalks at Saratoga Avenue, Poirier Place, Loaldo Drive, and
Lakewood Parkway; the first three will only be compatible with a 3-lane cross section.
7. Transit service at 15-minute peak weekday headways and increased weekend services on
North Avenue.
Long-Term DRAFT Implementation Concepts
With 60% of the Advisory Committee’s votes and the Study Team’s input, the preferred concept for the
cross section of North Avenue is Concept D, on-street one-way protected bike lanes (Figure 7):
The long-term preferred concepts for intersections include:
1. Plattsburg Avenue: scoping for single-
lane mini-roundabout or other alternatives
Figure 7: Concept D - On Street One-Way Protected Bike Lanes
2. Ethan Allen Shopping Center: reconstruct
curb and sidewalk at Farrington’s Mobile
Home Park and Bamboo Hut to reduce
curb cut and define the driveway.
3. Ethan Allen Parkway: implement scoping
study recommendation (signal or single
lane roundabout)
4. VT 127: scoping study for roundabout or
other alternative
5. Institute Road: scoping study for
roundabout or other alternative, resolve
bus driveway
6. Additional unsignalized crosswalks at Staniford Road, mid-block at the bus stops south of the
VT 127 ramps, Convent Square, and Canfield Street.
NEXT STEPS
At the City Council meeting, Joseph Barr of Parsons Brinkerhoff will present the short-, medium-, and
long-term implementation plan, including an initial analysis of the VT 127 short-term intersection
recommendations. Staff of the DPW and CCRPC will also be available to answer any technical or
procedural questions related to the North Avenue Corridor Study.
The City Council is asked to authorize implementation of the North Avenue Corridor Study, which
will apply the established vision and goals to the North Avenue corridor. To foster collaboration
between city departments and the community during implementation, creation of a North Avenue
Task Force (city staff and residents) is recommended. The Task Force will participate in all phases of
project development and will keep the Council and area Councilors apprised of progress on the North
Avenue plan.
Councilors are encouraged to review or reference the complete North Avenue Corridor Study,
which includes detailed Public and Stakeholder input, the Existing and Future Conditions, the
Improvement Concepts, and the Recommended Implementation Plan. Where this memo is a brief
summary of the sections of the Corridor Study, the full report is an informative and comprehensive
depiction of our multi-year study.
The full report will be available on the project website on October 3, 2014: www.bit.ly/north-ave