Title
Comprehensive Roadway Safety Update
Description
This report provides the Transportation, Infrastructure and Planning Subcommittee with an update on the Street Transportation Department’s efforts related to comprehensive roadway safety, including current and potential future practices, procedures, and projects to address roadway safety concerns within the City of Phoenix. Additionally, based on the request made by Transportation, Infrastructure, and Planning Subcommittee Chair Stark at the Oct. 12, 2021 Council Policy session relative to bringing a “Vision Zero” safety focus to Phoenix, this item also allows Subcommittee discussion and possible action to provide a Council a recommendation incorporating “Vision Zero” into the goals of the City’s Comprehensive Roadway Safety Action Plan.
THIS ITEM IS FOR DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION.
Report
Summary
This update addresses the status of the Comprehensive Roadway Safety Action Plan (RSAP) and near-term safety improvements at three intersections specifically identified for funding at the March 2, 2021, City Council meeting as well as an update on other ongoing transportation safety initiatives. This item also provides an opportunity for the Subcommittee to recommend City Council approve incorporating “Vision Zero” into the goals of the City’s Comprehensive RSAP.
Background
Recent traffic fatalities within the City increased from 177 fatalities in 2019 to 185 fatalities in 2020. Of the 185 fatalities, 69 were pedestrians (a decrease of 13 percent), 3 were bicyclists (a decrease of 3 fatalities) and 113 were motor vehicle related, an increase of 23 percent (excluding pedestrian and bicycle collisions). For the first six months of 2021, a total of 114 traffic fatalities have occurred with 52 pedestrian-related fatalities, 4 bicyclists, and 58 motor vehicle-related fatalities.
The Street Transportation Department (Streets) strives to provide an accessible City with safe mobility options for everyone regardless of their mode of transportation. Streets works with Citywide data related to traffic collisions to make sound decisions about roadway safety. These efforts are best described by the “Four E's” approach to traffic safety that is based on the strategic interaction between Evaluation, Engineering, Enforcement and Education. Streets recognizes that investments in Evaluation and Engineering programs can yield significant dividends and greatly improve roadway safety. However, roadway users’ behaviors that frequently disregard traffic laws greatly impact roadway safety, and so Enforcement and Education are also key components to addressing overall traffic safety.
In 2018, the Council approved the formation of the Office of Pedestrian Safety to address pedestrian safety issues. Due to overall roadway safety issues and to provide a comprehensive approach to all traffic collisions, on March 2, 2021, Council unanimously approved funding for the development of a Comprehensive RSAP, funding for safety enhancements for three intersections listed on Maricopa Association of Governments’ Top 100 Intersections Ranked by Crash Risk - Using 2015-19 Crash Data (MAG Top 100 List) and additional staff to support those efforts. The three intersections on the MAG Top 100 List specified for safety enhancements were:
- 75th Avenue and Indian School Road;
- 19th Avenue and Southern Avenue; and
- 16th Street and Camelback Road.
Roadway Safety Action Plan
The RSAP will be a comprehensive safety plan that will apply a data-driven decision-making process to guide the identification and prioritization of transportation safety improvements with a “Four E's” approach. Streets immediately began the process to recruit a transportation safety professional to lead and manage the development and implementation of the RSAP, and to also develop the scope of work to identify and select a consultant to assist Streets staff in the preparation of the RSAP. In April 2021, Streets hired a traffic engineer to lead the comprehensive roadway safety efforts. Additionally, Streets selected and issued a notice to proceed to Y2K Engineering in June 2021 to serve as the prime consulting firm to develop the RSAP, safety analysis tools, and an interactive safety dashboard.
Multiple discovery workshops have been held by the RSAP team to identify, evaluate, and coordinate the roadway safety efforts with multiple City departments and divisions within Streets. The goal of these workshops has been to build inter- and intra-departmental support; open additional lines of communication; and better evaluate existing data, processes, and procedures that impact roadway safety.
Two inter-departmental Visioning and Emphasis Area Workshops are being conducted to bring various stakeholders together within the City to gain a stronger understanding and provide input into the RSAP development. The first workshop was held on Sept. 28, 2021 and provided RSAP background information and visioning, and the second will focus on proposals for safety emphasis areas for the RSAP.
Public Involvement Plan
Public engagement is crucial to the ultimate success of the RSAP. Streets has developed a draft Public Involvement Plan (PIP) working with our consultant and in coordination with Council. The draft PIP establishes a website for public information and comments, and interactive participation in two Citywide meetings and eight Council District-specific meetings for each phase of the two-phase traffic safety improvements effort. Whether these events and meetings are virtual or in person will depend on guidelines related to COVID. The intent of the PIP effort is to engage with the community to establish residents’ localized priorities for roadway safety, create awareness, educate, and receive comments and feedback regarding the RSAP. The project team is working diligently to launch the public website and schedule the public engagement meetings for late 2021.
RSAP - Evaluation and Engineering
With respect to the Evaluation and Engineering components of the Four E's, the RSAP team has reviewed and utilized the crash data from MAG's Regional Transportation Safety Information Management System (RTSIMS) and drafted the Phoenix Crash Safety Review (Attachment A), which was finalized in mid-September. The Phoenix Crash Safety Review provides a high-level summary of crash data for the City and will be utilized to help identify safety emphasis areas. The RSAP team has also begun the review of nearly 40 completed Road Safety Assessments to identify potential common themes that may warrant modifying existing standards, processes, or procedures.
As the RSAP is a data-driven plan, data and data integration is of primary concern. Multiple data sources from various City departments have been identified and will be reviewed for integration. Various technologies and business analytics tools, such as Microsoft Power BI Business Data Analytics (MS Power BI) and Geographic Information System (GIS), will be used to identify safety related patterns. Additionally, a high injury network will be developed to identify locations with strong potential for safety enhancements. Finally, a safety dashboard will also be developed to report on safety performance metrics.
These safety analytic tools will be updated and managed to scan the roadway network for locations where safety may be improved by installing a traffic signal, a High-Intensity Activated CrossWalk (HAWK) signal, or left turn phase protection. The automation of the screening process will reduce the manpower currently required to identify potential safety improvement locations.
Streets also plans to improve the speed at which it can act upon traffic safety issues. Currently, crash data is obtained from the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), which may lag up to 18 months before a completed, official calendar year of data is available. Streets is working to obtain crash data directly from the Phoenix Police Department, which would likely reduce the lag in crash data analysis to a few months. With more direct access to and evaluation of crash data, Streets can identify and program safety measures more quickly.
RSAP - Enforcement and Education
Streets and the Phoenix Police Department (Police) will work in partnership in the development of the RSAP. The scope for the consultant includes evaluating additional data analytics tools that can assist the Police with enforcement and education activities. The RSAP team anticipates that additional Enforcement and Educational opportunities will be identified and developed as the Evaluation and Engineering tasks near completion.
RSAP - Near-Term Safety Projects
Development of the RSAP and completion of the community engagement process is expected to be complete by September 2022. As the RSAP is developed, Streets is also focused on the implementation of the near-term safety projects through known and proven safety-improvement strategies.
As presented at the March 2, 2021, Council meeting, Streets will make improvements to three intersections from the MAG Top 100 List. These intersections will be redesigned and reconstructed to updated traffic signal standards. The process of reconstructing traffic signals has demonstrated substantial safety benefits, while furthering the City’s ability to manage traffic capacity and congestion. The three intersections (75th Avenue and Indian School Road, 19th and Southern avenues and 16th Street and Camelback Road) will receive expedited traffic safety improvements in a two-phase effort.
Phase I improvements will primarily modernize the traffic signals at each location with design and construction utilizing in-house and on-call contractor capabilities. The signal modernization is comprised of providing new traffic signal heads above each through lane, improved intersection illumination with a street light fixture at each side of marked crosswalks, emergency vehicle preemption, vehicular video detection, Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility, signal-related signage, network communication, Flashing Yellow Arrow (FYA) capabilities, as well as new poles, mast arms, wiring, conduit, mounting hardware, control cabinets and controller equipment. Phase I improvements can be completed within existing right-of-way and without the need for construction easements or utility relocations. Phase I design plans for all three intersections have been completed, and construction is expected to begin by December 2021. For the 19th and Southern avenues intersection, the third southbound curb lane that ends just south of Southern Avenue will transition into an exclusive right-turn lane north of Southern Avenue, allowing for an extension of the southbound bike lane with a buffer from Southern Avenue to Lynne Lane.
Phase II improvements will begin immediately after Phase I improvements. Phase II safety improvements may require the acquisition of additional right-of-way, construction easements and utility relocations; all of which can have an impact on delivery timelines. Phase II safety improvements are expected to include additional streetlights along the approaches to the intersections to improve illumination and visibility, as well as signing and pavement striping/marking modifications. For the 16th Street and Camelback Road intersection, there will be additional evaluation for enhanced crosswalk locations, including installation of a HAWK signal(s) to address the pedestrian activity associated with the retail, residential, dining and car dealerships in the area. On-street parking and loading zones may also be evaluated for this intersection.
As the total costs for improvements to these three intersections are identified, Streets will identify additional intersections from the MAG Top 100 List to receive similar safety improvements.
Office of Pedestrian Safety
The Office of Pedestrian Safety (OPS) uses a data-driven approach also with emphasis on the Four E's. The OPS is allocated an annual budget of $2 million to address pedestrian safety across the City through various projects and programs. To date, the City has installed 68 HAWK signals with another 25 locations currently programmed for installation. The OPS has initiated an effort to upgrade all mid-block arterial street crosswalks to high visibility crosswalks with improve signage and markings.
The OPS has also initiated a study to evaluate mid-block marked crosswalks and the conversion of Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB) to either circular yellow flashing beacons or HAWK signals. A significant portion of pedestrian fatalities occur at night where there is no or limited street lighting. The OPS has initiated several projects to provide additional streetlights in those areas. Education is also a major component of pedestrian safety with education primarily focused on school-aged children through the Safe Routes to School Program.
Traffic Operations and Intelligent Transportation Systems
Streets has additional existing programs and initiatives that address roadway safety concerns and needs. Neighborhood traffic mitigation evaluations, primarily utilizing signing, striping, and speed cushions/humps to deter excessive speed and cut-through traffic, is a regular activity. Review of access control of new developments to provide safer ingress and egress by restricting certain traffic movements is also conducted on a regular basis. As Streets completes its pavement preservation projects, lane narrowing to provide dedicated bike lanes or add bike lane buffers is also considered to improve bicycle safety and lower vehicular speeds.
The City has 1,162 standard traffic signals, many of which are not designed to current national standards. To address this, each year Streets implements signal modernization projects, which are typically comprised of providing new traffic signal heads above each through lane, improved intersection illumination with a street light fixture at each side of marked crosswalks, emergency vehicle preemption, vehicular video detection, CCTV cameras, ADA accessibility, signal related signing, network communication, FYA capabilities, as well as new poles, mast arms, wiring, conduit, mounting hardware, control cabinets and controller equipment. To highlight how signal modernization projects can address safety, the addition of an individual signal head per traffic lane is a proven traffic safety measure that is shown to improve driver compliance with traffic signals and should reduce the frequency of drivers running red lights. Red light running crashes, which are caused by a failure to yield right-of-way or disregarding traffic signals at intersections often lead to severe angle or left-turn crashes, which are the most violent and deadly roadway crashes.
Streets has utilized HAWK signals to reduce risk and improve safety for pedestrians at high or critical crossing locations. To improve HAWK signal user experience and compliance, Streets modified its HAWK signals for quicker actuation when the activation button is pressed. Previously, HAWK signals were activated only after the progression window ended but now are active immediately after the button is pushed if there is not a conflict with traffic progression, reducing the wait time for pedestrians to safely cross at a HAWK signal location.
Streets has also increased its deployment of Flashing Yellow Arrows (FYAs) at its signalized intersections. A significant number of roadway fatalities are due to drivers not yielding the right-of-way while making left turns and being struck by oncoming vehicles. The use of FYAs provides a protected phase and/or permitted phase dependent upon traffic conditions, and is a proven traffic safety measure that improves safety and vehicular delay.
The use of network communication technologies enables real-time traffic control to reduce unexpected bottle necks that may result in reduced rear-end crashes due to unexpected traffic queuing. Streets is actively working to further expand its fiber communication network to allow this improved connectivity to between our traffic signals and our Traffic Management Center to improve our response to incidents and events within our transportation system.
Regional, State, and Federal Funding
Streets continues to leverage local funding with opportunities for regional, state, and federal funding to improve roadway safety, taking advantage of the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) administered by ADOT and MAG's Road Safety Program (RSP). Streets completed a HSIP grant funding application for enhanced corridor street lighting improvements for 14 locations Citywide with a grant value exceeding $3 million. Streets has also completed applications for the current MAG RSP cycle requesting two additional HAWK signals and two traffic signals on behalf of the OPS. The RSAP will improve the process that Streets’ uses for screening of safety needs and increase our competitiveness for these grant programs.
Financial Impact
The City Council approved the allocation of $3 million in Streets' Transportation T2050 (T2050) revenues and $3 million in General Fund resources over five years to support the RSAP. Streets allocated and encumbered $600,000 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021. The balance of the $6 million RSAP funding is programmed in Streets' Capital Improvement Program at $1.2 million per year in FY 2021-22 through FY 2024-25, with the remaining $600,000 in FY 2025-26.
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
The Citizens Transportation Commission recommended the development of the Roadway Safety Action Plan for City Council approval on Jan. 28, 2021.
The Transportation, Infrastructure and Innovation Subcommittee recommended City Council approval for the development of the RSAP on Feb. 3, 2021.
The City Council approved development of the RSAP and near-term projects on March 2, 2021.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua and the Street Transportation Department.