ATSSA Signal September October 2020

The Signal | September/October 2020 7 ATSSA News residents demand more outdoor recre - ational space—whether that’s becauseof social distancing requirements related to the pandemic or out of a general desire to use public space differently. Bratton said Charlotte modeled its program after Oakland, Calif., which launched its SlowStreets program inApril. Oakland announced that it would close 74 miles—nearly 10% of its streets—to through traffic. The city uses traffic cones, signage, and enhanced paint within crosswalks to try to calm traffic. InWashington, D.C., the District Depart - ment of Transportation (DDOT) rolled out 20 miles of “Slow Streets,” which are restricted to local traffic and have a 15-mph speed limit to promote safe socially distanced walking, biking, and recreation. On top of that, Mayor Muriel The city of Alexandria, Va., closed the 100 block of King Street in Old Town in May, but set it up for easy access by fire trucks in case of emergency. The plan for this heavy pedestrian area was approved in 2019 and implemented this spring. (Photo by Misha Enriquez for Visit Alexandria) Bowser lowered the District-wide speed limit from 25 mph to 20 mph as part of her Vision Zero initiative to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries. Similar pedestrian zones have been initi - ated inmany other U.S. cities from Seat - tle to Chicago to Philadelphia. PEDESTRIANS ARE VULNERABLE ROAD USERS According to theNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), pedes - trian and cyclist fatalities both showed an increase from2017 to 2018, while overall motor vehicle traffic fatalities declined. The number of fatalities among pedes - trians (6,283) and cyclists (857) in 2018 was the highest since 1990, according to NHTSA. At ATSSA’s Annual Convention & Traf - fic Expo in New Orleans in January, the Association’s Traffic Signals Committee formed a subcommittee focused on vulnerable road users: those who aren’t protected by a vehicular shield and are thereforemore at risk for injuries. Pedes - trians, cyclists, andmotorcyclists all fall into this category. Seth Chalmers, director of traffic engi - neering at Dibble Engineering in Phoenix, is a member of that subcommittee. He has nearly four decades of experience in the industry, including six years as the traffic engineer for Pima County, Ariz. He likens the current movement toward shared streets to that of neighborhood traffic management efforts that started in the 1970swith the installation of traffic- calming measures like speed humps on local streets. “What we are seeing now is a manifes - tation of that into more commercial