ATSSA Signal September October 2020

American Traffic Safety Services Association 6 ATSSA News Sharing the road Cities experiment with new mix of road users on local streets When gyms, parks, and businesses in Charlotte, N.C., closed this spring in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, city officials began receiving inquiries from residents wanting access tomore public outdoor space for recreation. “People wanted to know how the city of Charlotte could help,” said Scierra Brat - ton, media relations specialist for the CharlotteDepartment of Transportation. As a result, the city piloted the Charlotte Shared Streets program. Rolled out in phases over the spring and summer, the programconvertedselect low-speedneigh - borhood streets to “shared streets,” to encourage walking, biking, wheelchair rolling, and other outdoor exercise with plenty of room for social distance. Through traffic is not allowed on shared streets, which are marked with a Type III barricade and “road closed to thru traffic” sign, but emergency vehicles, delivery vehicles, and residents of the street still have access. Charlotte started the program in May with three sections of road, then added three more in late June. “It is our hope to move to a permanent city-wide shared streets program,” Brat- ton said. “We hope to change what has been a longtimemindset that the streets existed to solely serve motor vehicles.” Charlotte is in good company. To build its shared streets program, city officials looked tomany other U.S. cities that are reimagining the use of their streets as The city of Charlotte, N.C., set up signage to help people recognize its “Shared Streets” area when the city launched its pilot program in May. This sign appears in Charlotte, N.C., which launched a Shared Streets program this spring. By Emily Freehling for The Signal