staff report: south water street improvements – fox point ... · page 1 of 2 staff report: south...

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Staff Report: South Water Street Improvements – Fox Point – Ward 1 (For Action) Presented at June 24, 2020 BPAC meeting

Project Background The City of Providence Department of Planning and Development seeks comments from the BPAC regarding 30% plans for a two-way urban trail and pedestrian safety improvements on South Water Street from Canal Walk to Point/Wickenden Street. This will be a design level review of the project and will be the second of two reviews before the Commission.

In August, 2019, the Providence River Bicycle & Pedestrian Bridge opened, generating more non-vehicular traffic around and across South Water Street. While South Water Street was formerly under state jurisdiction, it is now a city road.

In January, 2020, the BPAC reviewed conceptual plans for this project, and made the following recommendations:

• raised crosswalks and/or speed humps should be considered where appropriate especially at the crossing at the Crawford Street Bridge,

• the width of the path into Memorial Park should be widened to make a proper two-way bicycle facility out of it,

• special attention needs to be paid to where the lane drop takes place from two lanes on Memorial Boulevard to one lane on South Water Street,

• the City should look into doing a traffic study, • special attention should be paid to how bicyclists navigate the Wickenden intersection especially

to get to the path toward the East Bay, and • RIPTA should be consulted on bus operations in this corridor.

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Changes since Conceptual Review • Crosswalk at Memorial Park realigned into V shape to align better with accessible park entrance • Bus island at north end of corridor placed carefully to avoid conflicts with large vehicle turns

from Crawford Bridge and drainage issues • Care was taken to accommodate vehicles using the active loading dock at the rear of 121 South

Main Street (garage next to building containing Hemenway’s) • Alignment at southern end of the corridor changed to direct both directions of urban trail off

the street & into the park at Dollar Street, following the curved path further from South Water Street and under the archway at the corner with Wickenden Street in order to approach the crosswalk across South Water Street from a more intuitive direction than continuing in the roadway. This alignment also reduces the likelihood of the lane drop on South Water Street causing traffic backups, since the final block where people wait for the Wickenden light would still have two lanes.

Status of BPAC Recommendations • Raised crosswalks or speed lumps at the Crawford Street Bridge: NOT YET INCLUDED • Widening the path into Memorial Park: OUTSIDE OF THIS PROJECT’S SCOPE • Where the lane drop occurs from Memorial Boulevard: ON MEMORIAL • Traffic study: COUNTS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED

March 3-12, AADT of 2570, PM peak hour volume of 329 vehicles (600 is threshold for needing two lanes), 85th percentile speed 33, 95th percentile speed 36, 2.4% large vehicles, 62% of vehicles traveling above 30 mph.

• How bicyclists navigate the Wickenden intersection: APPROACH TO WICKENDEN ALIGNED TO POINT PATH USERS TOWARD BEGINNING OF ASPHALT PATH

• RIPTA should be consulted on bus operations in this corridor: RIPTA WAS CONSULTED AND SEVERAL CHANGES COMMUNICATED TO DESIGNERS AT THEIR REQUEST These changes are not reflected in the attached plans but will be integrated along with BPAC recommendations and community input as the designs are finalized.

Respectfully submitted by Alex Ellis.

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SIGNING AND STRIPING PLAN

PROVIDENCE RHODE ISLAND

CITY OF PROVIDENCE

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS

700 ALLENS AVENUE

PROVIDENCE, R.I. 02905

CITY OF PROVIDENCE

30% DESIGN SUBMISSION - NOT FOR CONSTRUCTION

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