Corridor Safety

For many motorists, a narrower roadway makes them feel uncomfortable while driving: believe it or not, that discomfort actually proves to make roadways safer for all users, including those both inside and outside vehicles. That's because many drivers base their travel speeds on “feeling” – and the more comfortable they feel, the faster and less cautiously they drive. Faster speeds and more careless driving leads to more accidents, more serious injuries, and more property damage.

Since driving by “feeling” is a subconscious action, simply lowering the speed limit in a corridor often doesn’t solve the problem. While adding increased traffic patrols from law enforcement is a temporary solution, it's also reactionary and unsustainable to execute over a long period of time. If the design of a roadway can naturally encourage drivers to slow their travel speeds, drive more cautiously, and limit distractions, it's proven to be safer for everyone.

According to the Federal Highway Traffic Administration, road diets actually reduce rear-end collisions and sideswipe crashes by slowing vehicle speeds by 3 to 5 miles per hour as well as decrease the frequency of drivers speeding 5 or more miles over the speed limit by 70 percent.

But isn't Buttles "too busy" to see a lane reduction? No - in fact, our one-way pairs fall into many of the categories that experts say make a road diet most likely to be successful:

• Moderate volumes (8,000-15,000 average daily traffic)
• Roads with safety issues
• Popular or essential bicycle routes
• Commercial reinvestment areas
• Entertainment districts
• Main streets

Related Items

• Federal Highway Traffic Administration - Road Diet FAQ (PDF)
• AARP - Road Diets: A Livability Fact Sheet (PDF)
• Governors Highway Safety Association - A Right to the Road: Understanding & Addressing Bicyclist Safety (PDF)
• US Department of Transportation - Traffic Calming to Slow Vehicle Speeds
• Vox - Road Diets: Designing a Safer Street (VIDEO)
• Route Fifty - Why Speed Kills Cities

Economic Development

Our one-way pairs are over-engineered, which means that they’re designed to handle much more traffic than they actually see. This has created some concerns for the future of economic development on Indian and Buttles Street.

When communities build roadways that are over-sized for their locations, a number of things happen:

• It creates less usable space for other purposes, such as sidewalks, non-motorized lanes, green space, or additional property development. 
• It encourages unsafe driving conditions,like speeding and frequent lane changes, that make it difficult for pedestrian and non-motorized traffic to cross or use the road.
• Higher speeds create more noise pollution, which makes an area less enjoyable to live and shop in.

When an area becomes less accessible and less desirable to live or build in, its property values decline: not only for homes and businesses along the corridor, but just outside of the corridor as well. Lower property values make it difficult to see positive return on investment for property. Furthermore, when property values go down, property tax revenue decreases, which also impacts the services and amenities that the City is able to provide.

During the City’s Master Plan update in 2007, input from residents supported expanding what we consider the “downtown” area to include the one-way pairs. This means that the goals of downtown development - high-quality, higher-density design; buildings closer to front property lines; and accessible spaces that promote both indoor and outdoor interaction – are also the future goals for the Buttles and Indian Street corridor.

At the end of the day, private businesses ultimately decide where to locate their organizations.  Our goal is to create an environment that encourages economic development with the entire community in mind. And when a business or organization chooses to invest in Midland, the entire community benefits through increased job opportunities, higher property values, and more expanded service offerings.

Related Items 

• City of Midland Master Plan
• Metro Magazine - Study Finds Value in Downtown, Center Cities Investment
• Smart Growth America - Complete Streets Stimulate the Local Economy (PDF)
• Federal Highway Administration - Road Diets' Economic Impact (PDF)
• National Association of City Transportation Officials - York Blvd: The Economics of a Road Diet (PDF)

Non-Motorized Mobility

Non-motorized transportation refers to all users of a corridor that aren't using an motorized vehicle: that includes pedestrians on foot, bicyclists, mobility devices (wheelchairs, power chairs, etc.), and others. In previous decades, streets were built with the primary accommodation being given to motorists; however, today's consumer trends show more pedestrians and cyclists on the streets than ever before. Some members of a community utilize non-motorized transportation because that don't have access to or own a vehicle, while others may enjoy getting exercise, limiting their carbon footprints, or experiencing their community in a different way. Regardless of the reasons why, the fact is: roads that are designed solely for automobile travel put people at risk and discourage pedestrian usage.

In 2005, MDOT created a policy to include the “context sensitive solutions” process in the planning of its projects.

Later, in August 2010, two public acts made the Complete Streets approach a requirement for all state transportation projects.  Complete streets provide safe, efficient access and use for any type of legal transportation on a public roadway. 

Since June 2010, Midland has had a “Complete Streets” policy that challenges our staff to consider creating roadways that are safe for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, residents with mobility devices, and automobiles. With more inter-community connectivity comes the potential for greater economic investment, increased social interaction, and a better quality of life for all of our tax-paying residents. Advances in non-motorized mobility benefit members of our community from all walks of life.

Related items:

• MDOT - Complete Streets Policy FAQs (PDF)
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - Traffic Safety Facts: Bicyclists & Other Cyclists (PDF)
• Smart Growth America - Complete Streets Help Create Livable Communities (PDF)
• Smart Growth America - Complete Streets Change Travel Patterns (PDF) 
• Pedestrian & Bicycle Information Center - Tools to Reduce Crossing Distances for Pedestrians
• Case Study: CNU Public Square - Road Diet Creates People-Oriented Corridor for Oak Park, MI

Context Sensitive Design

You may have heard the phrase “context sensitive design” in relation to the road diet trial. But what does that mean?

Context sensitive design means designing roads using standards and development practices that are flexible and sensitive to community values and encourages roadway designers to make decisions that balance economic, social and environmental objectives. That means that planners, engineers, and developers go through a process – called context sensitive solutions – that incorporates input from the community and its stakeholders to include less-tangible goals such as livability, mobility, economic sustainability, and more.

In 2005, MDOT created a policy to include the “context sensitive solutions” process in the planning of its projects. In fact, you may have participated in the context sensitive solutions process on this corridor before: MDOT conducted public input sessions at City Hall in March 2015, December 2016, and September 2017 to discuss the future use of this roadway. At these meetings, residents shared feedback with traffic engineers and viewed sample infrastructure designs proposed for the corridor. See the "Future Vision for the Corridor" section below this tab for more details.

Check out the "Non-Motorized Transport" tab for more information about how state and local policies, such as the Complete Streets initiative, incorporates many of these concepts. 

Related Items

• MDOT - US 10 Business Route Corridor Study Results, 2017 (PDF)
• US DOT Federal Highway Administration - Context Sensitive Design/Context Sensitive Solutions Fact Sheet (PDF)
• US DOT Federal Highway Administration - Road Diet Case Studies (PDF)
• MDOT - Complete Streets & Context Sensitive Solutions (PDF)
• MDOT - Context Sensitive Solutions Policy, 2005 (PDF)
• MDOT - Aesthetics Policy, 2000 (PDF)

Connectivity

Whether to get healthy, to get outside, or to simply get to where they need to go, people are choosing to spend more time walking and biking to their destinations than ever before - and that requires us to take a deeper look at how our infrastructure network functions for that purpose. Walking, biking, and other forms of non-automotive methods of travel are all forms of transportation, too! 

It’s been a longtime goal of the City's Master Plan to incorporate the areas surrounding Indian and Buttles streets into the expanded downtown area to further drive economic development and create a more connected downtown core. With more inter-community connectivity comes the potential for greater economic investment, increased social interaction, and a better quality of life for all of our tax-paying residents. As we continue to see growth and investment in core areas of our community such as Midtown and the Downtown District, it’s becoming more important to create a way for all transportation users to access these areas as safely and efficiently as possible. 

Advances in non-motorized mobility benefit members of our community from all walks of life. In fact, the more connected and "included" a person feels in a community, the more likely he or she is to live there and contribute to that community in a positive way - both personally and economically.

Related Items

• Knight Foundation - Knight Soul of the Community 2010: Why People Love Where They Live & Why It Matters
• Congress for the New Urbanism - Street Networks 101