Should Main Street be a 20 MPH street?

Main Street is Laurel's original commercial corridor and currently the only stretch of retail/office that was designed for walk-up traffic.  It has wide sidewalks (up to 10' including the tree boxes).  It is a designated bike route in the City.  The buildings are not set back from the property lines and there are no parking lots in between the road and the building entrances.  In short, it was designed for the people that live on and adjacent to Main street - like a traditional city.  It, however, has a speed limit of 25 mph, which is often the default lowest speed limit assigned to roads.  Residents have often stated that drivers were going too fast on Main Street.  Data shows that the average speed is about 22 MPH with 70% of the traffic traveling below the speed limit. However, a better question may be:  Is 25 mph the correct speed limit for Main Street?

A trend that has been developing in Europe and is just beginning here in the US, is 20 mph streets.  Typically, 25 MPH is the default minimum – often reserved for residential roads, but based largely on the design speed that the roadway was designed for. Somerset, MD, a small lovely residential hamlet in Montgomery County, has made a policy decision to reduce the speed limit for the entire town to 20 MPH. 

This decision was not an engineering one (which typically deals with only the safety of drivers that are already pretty safe wrapped up in a 3000 lb steel box).  Rather, it was a decision based on planning for slower roads and roads that are safer for all users (children, joggers, cyclists, etc.). 

Some of the the positives and negatives of a slower Main Street are:

Positives:

·       Slower speeds making walking more comfortable for pedestrians.

·       Slower speeds are better for bikers (speed differential between cars and bike is a main factor in bicycling level of comfort and broadening its appeal to more users.

·       A pedestrian getting hit at 25 mph has 4-fold higher likelihood of dyeing than at 20 mph.

·       Slower drivers are more apt to see the types of businesses that line Main Street.

·       There is simply no engineering reason to allow/encourage 25mph speeds on Main Street, but there are certainly economic and safety reasons for lowering the speed limit.

Negatives:

·         A driver will need an extra 23 seconds to travel the main retail stretch from MD 216 to US 1.

That’s it.  On the surface, relying on planning and policy, rather than what a roadway could handle, sure seems to be a better way for towns to assign speed limits.



Links edition

• Bikes are great for business.
• Even drivers want separate bike lanes.
• 124 bike racks last year!  Nicely done, Hyattsville.
• Takoma Park gets $2.3M for bike lanes and sidewalks.  The money quote is here: “To find out that not only were we the only ones to be awarded in Maryland, we were the only ones who submitted — It’s huge.”
• Walkability is good for town coffers.
• My single favorite planning/transportation/land-use topic:  Placemaking. I highly recommend the book, if only for its coffee table value.  Every time I pick it up, I think about Gude Park's potential.

Tour de Laurel

Finally got around to biking the entire City (existing and planned routes) all at one shot. Sunday morning was perfect for it.  Pictures of the lovely mill town are below, but first some observations:

• Riverfront Park is such a jewel for the City - it can't be lengthened fast enough.
• Main Street - despite being 150 years old and the only walkable and bikeable commercial corridor in the City (and a city-designated bike route) - has not one single bike rack.  Unexcusable.
• The City streets are very easy to bike in with traffic.  The designated routes are slow and drivers allow you to take the lane. 
• The access path from Cherry Lane to Gude Park is awesome and easier to get up and down than it looks.  It still looks good after a few years - the crew that built it must know a thing or two :)
• Biking on Route 1 is terrifying. But the sidewalks are too narrow and have people walking on them.  It's a shame the stores don't address the street, but instead plop a giant ugly parking lot between the entrance and the City's walkers and bikers.  The zoning code needs to be changed to mandate rear parking and no front yard setbacks.
• The Laurel Place and Mulberry Street bike lanes will really tie the north-south network together nicely.
• There are stretches of the Gude Lake path that could use a bit of smoothing and widening - particularly on the north side.
• The City shold adopt the Idaho Stop.  There is simply not enough vehicle traffic in the City (and too many stop signs) for it not to be adopted.
• Please remove the unwarranted stop sign at 4th and Marshall - what a buzz kill for cyclists heading to Main Street (and cars, I'm sure).
• Bowie Road between the tracks and Route 1:  U.G.L.Y.  Gravel shoulders and zero sidewalks.  That should be priority number 1 on the CIP. The ROW can hold two 10' lanes and buffered bike lanes on each side, plus sidewalk and trees.
• The wayfinding signage around town is nice and it should be added with any new lanes that get built.
• The signal at 4th and Cherry needs a couple of extra seconds added to the southbound minimum green setting.  Not quite enough time for a cyclists to completely cross prior to the main line getting a green. This could be quite the liability for the City and should be address ASAP.
• All in all, a very enjoyable and quick ride.

The photos:

The original Laurel Dam

The mighty Patuxent

Winding riverfront path

Laurel Marc Station.

New sharrows on Lafayette

Ye olde Laurel Mall

4th Street looking almost chic. How about some knock-out roses to liven up the median?

Cherry Lane ped/bike access ramp

Gude Park trail and banners

Left side bike lane

Laurel Community Garden

6th Street - the old streetcar ROW (that's why it's so wide)

Seems too specific. Can deer read?

Bike Routes, by Comfort Level

This map below shows Laurel's preferred bike routes, color-coded by ease of ride-ability. Blue Routes are residential collector roads - very easy to bike in the street with low traffic volume and low speeds. Novice riders should feel comfortable riding in the street.  Green Routes have slightly more traffic volume but are easy to ride because they have bike lanes and/or wide shoulders and/or low speeds.  Yellow Routes have moderate volume and speeds but should still provide a level of comfort for the average rider.  Red Routes are high-volume with either high speeds or narrow lanes.  These are not for average riders. Click on each colored link to find a brief description of the Route.  Finally, the little bike symbols show where bike parking can be found.


View bicycle level of comfort City of Laurel, MD in a larger map