salt lake city
salt lake cityMayor Ralph BeckerMayors introduction. Personal
experiences growing up walking everywhere, and the value of
walking, why is it important for well-being.
Salt lake city: a portrait
Population of approximately 190K. Set at the foot of the Wasatch
Mountains. Growing population and economy in the region. SLC is the
Capitol City of the state, and our population grows by nearly 75%
every day.
Overview
With a population of nearly 200,000 people expected to double by
2040, Salt Lake City must be diligent and proactive about planning
the quality of life for our future inhabitants. Creating a safe
walkable, bikeable, and transit friendly environment is a top
priority identified by residents living in the city. Salt Lake City
has identified goals to achieve these higher standards and outlined
them in the Mayors Livability Agenda. Although implementation is
already underway, Salt Lake faces some major challenges.Challenges
in Salt lake cityWide streets, long blocks
Unfriendly walking environments
Poor air qualityChallenges: wide streets make for unfriendly
walking environments. Our streets were designed for turning horse
carriages. For the last 100 years this space has been given over to
cars, and now we have an opportunity to repurpose the space, and a
lot of of it, for other people and modes. We also struggle with air
quality on certain days, so our ability to encourage walking,
bicycling and riding transit is so important if we want to reduce
tailpipe emissions, which accounts for over half of pollutants.
Built Environment
Salt Lake City, UTPortland, ORSalt Lake City has a robust system
of sidewalks and pathways. However, the Citys wide streets and
large blocks downtown can create a challenging environment for
pedestrians. At 660 feet square and with 132-foot street
rights-of-way, just four of these SLC blocks take up the same area
used by 30 blocks in downtown Portland or Boston, 8 in Los Angeles,
around 12 in San Francisco, and 10 in midtown Manhattan
Unfriendly walking environments
Some unfriendly walking environments. When we have retrofitted
some streets, this one in particular for a transit line, weve lost
pedestrian space. Here is an example of how, working with our State
DOT, we did adequately plan for the pedestrian environment.
Poor air quality
Salt Lake City ranks in the top ten U.S. cities for acute spikes
in air pollution.Salt Lake City ranks in the top ten U.S. Cities
for acute spikes in air pollution. We have about 30 days of
unacceptable days each year. We know that air quality causes
numerous health issues. We need to continue to build our
infrastructure around walking, bicycling and mass transit if we are
going to reduce the number of bad air days in the region. In this
picture you should be able to see the valley below.
Vision for walkability
The focus is to make Salt Lake City one of the greenest, most
accessible, most inclusive and most economically
viablemunicipalities in the CountryVision for walkability: mobility
attracts visitors and businesses looking to relocate and innovators
who want to start anew. Access to transportation options increases
our competitive edge in the regional and national economy and also
contributes to improved air quality, wise energy use, a smaller
carbon footprint and a shared community experience. Salt Lake City
is officially taking part in the Mayors Challenge for Safer
Streets, which we think provides great organizing principles to
accelerate our efforts.
Safer streets safer people
What is Salt Lake City doing?Heres what were already doing that
is in alignment with the Mayors Challenge for Safer Streets:
**Explain on each of the following slides:
Taking a complete streets approachIdentifying barriersGathering
and tracking dataUsing design that are appropriate for each
streetTaking advantages of creating ped-bike networks through
maintenanceImproving walking & biking safety
laws/regulationsEducating and enforcing proper road use
behavior
Taking a complete streets approachAll city owned transportation
facilities in the public right of way on which bicyclists and
pedestrians are permitted by law, shall be designed, constructed,
operated, and maintained so that users, including people with
disabilities, can travel safely and independently.Passed in 2012,
Salt Lake City s Complete Streets Ordinance directs the City to
design roadways that improve safety for all roadway users.
Identifying barriers
Salt Lake City is identifying barriers to make streets safe and
convenient for all road users. We stress the importance of
including people of all ages and abilities and those using
assistive mobility devices during project review for maintenance
and new construction. One particular barrier we have in our
community, and that I think is common in many, is barriers between
communities caused by freight lines and freeways.
Gathering data
Gathering data is one area where we have identified a need to do
better work. Only recently have we compiled a searchable and
graphic database of all of collisions of all types, and we are
looking forward to using this database in the coming months to
identify our most needed pedestrian safety improvements. This will
be our biggest advancement this year in making walking safer for
everyone.
Street design
We are using designs that allow us to add bicycle lanes to
roadways by taking advantage of excess capacity. Pedestrian safety
is also improved as traffic speeds slow and the active width of
roadways narrow. As we have converted our streets, we have also
included designs such as bulb outs and specific pedestrian
enhancements.
Creating networks
Salt Lake City has been proactive for many years in taking
advantage of opportunities to create and complete ped-bike networks
while we are completing basic roadway maintenance. Examples include
adding on-street shared ped/bike walkways in a business park where
no sidewalks exist and adding ADA ramps throughout the city.
Laws & regulations
We know we have more control locally than we do at the State
level, so we have relied heavily on our adopted Complete Streets
ordinance to help implement better facilities for pedestrians. We
are missing a strong voice for pedestrian safety. We hope that
through the Mayors Challenge for Safety Streets we can improve that
voice.
Capitol funding for walking and bikingIn local government, its
not always easy to find adequate funding for every improvement.
Since I began as Mayor, I have increased the budget for walking and
biking from about 50,000 a year, to over 3.5 million a year. More
recently, weve just added another 1.1 million dollars for a walking
path connecting our communities. Were now starting to see the
benefits of this reallocation of dollars, as projects are being
implemented in every corner of the City.
Investing in safety
Nearly $3.5 million invested this year for pedestrian safety
improvements2015 is a big year for pedestrian safety improvements.
These improvements include adding HAWK beacons, warning flashers,
innovative crosswalk materials to improve visibility and
aesthetics, shortening crossing distances with bulbouts and refuge
islands, crosswalk flags, LOOK pavement messages, and countdown
timers
HAWKSHigh intensity Activated crossWalK
Eight HAWKs are being installed this year in Salt Lake CityHAWKs
provide a protected and controlled crossing for bicyclists and
pedestrians. We will install 8 HAWKs this year.
Warning flashersRRFBs Rectangular Rapid Flashing BeaconsEight
RRFBs are being installed this year in Salt Lake City
Weve started to use a rapid flashing beacon for greater
visibility. If you are a driver, you cant help by notice a fairly
obnoxious flashing indicator when a pedestrian is present. Eight
new beacons will be installed this year.
Innovative materials
New materials are being used to increase visibility &
safety
New materials are being used to create highly visible crosswalks
and bike lanes in Salt Lake City. This is an example of the use of
thermoplastic materials to improve crosswalks.
Education & enforcement
We need to also work on behavioral changes to improve safety on
our roadways. In this area as well, we need to improve our
communications about walking safely. Partnering with local advocacy
groups, we have designed a comprehensive education plan for 6th
graders to enforce early on the importance of both bicycle and
pedestrian safety. Its not quite in the school system yet, and we
are looking forward to making it more mainstream.
Salt Lake City is excited to accept the challenge of Safer
Streets Safer People!Thank YouWe are focused on improving
pedestrian safety because we know it will increase the number of
people who feel comfortable walking. I hope people will be able to
enjoy it like I do.
