The new Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) “Pedestrian Forum” newsletter focuses on pedestrian hybrid beacons -- also known as HAWK beacons -- a treatment which is endorsed by the FHWA as a proven countermeasure in reducing crashes.

The University of British Columbia’s School of Population & Public Health has developed a research program focused on the investigation of factors that encourage or discourage bicycling, transportation infrastructure associated with increased or decreased risks of cycling injuries, and air pollution and cycling.  The program website links to full-text versions of the studies it publishes and to “study brochures,” which summarize study results.  One recent study, published in the journal, Injury Prevention, examines the impact of transportation infrastructure at intersection and non-intersection locations on bicycling injury risk.

The Project for Public Spaces has produced an on-line “Rightsizing Streets Guide.”  The website features ten case studies from communities that have implemented road diets as a means to improve safety, gain public space, increase pedestrian and bicycle mobility and access, and/or enhance communities.  The site describes the rightsizing concept and best practices.

A new study by Florida International University’s Lehman Center for Transportation Research and the Florida Department of Transportation evaluates the safety impact of converting two-way left-turn medians to raised medians.  Eighteen locations totaling 17.51 miles were selected for before-and-after analysis.

Study results indicate a 30.3 percent reduction in the total crash rate after conversion to a raised median and a 28.9 percent reduction in pedestrian crash rate.

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) has published "Access and Parking Strategies for Transit-Oriented Development" as a resource for municipal officials looking for innovative strategies to support multi-modal access to their transit stations and TOD areas.  While providing automobile parking options in TOD areas is important, this guide focuses on assessing multi-modal access strategies and places a priority on pedestrian, bicycle, and transit access.  The RTA has also produced a presentation (also available on-line) that municipal staff or others may use to explain the principles of the Access and Parking Strategies Report.  The presentation summarizes the main points of the report and provides talking notes for the presenter.

Bikes Belong is accepting grant applications from organizations and agencies within the United States for projects that “will put more people on bicycles more often.”  Fundable projects include paved bike paths, lanes, and rail-trails as well as mountain bike trails, bike parks, BMX facilities, and large-scale bicycle advocacy initiatives.

This year, Bikes Belong will only accept “Community Partnership Grant Applications.”  These proposals must come from a partnership that is minimally comprised of one government agency or office, one non-profit organization, and one business.

Bikes Belong accepts requests for funding of up to $10,000 for facility and advocacy projects. We do not require a specific percentage match, but we do look at leverage and funding partnerships very carefully. Bikes Belong will not consider grant requests in which their funding would amount to 50 percent or more of the project budget.

Grant applications are due May 24, 2013.  For more information, see the Bikes Belong Grants Program Brochure.

The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) has launched a web portal for the Illinois Bike Transportation Plan, located at IllinoisBikePlan.com. The website provides an overview of the plan, tracks plan progress, and offers the public opportunities to collaborate and submit feedback.  IDOT has contracted with consultants to complete the bicycle plan by December 2013.

On May 7 at 1:00 p.m. CT, the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC), in partnership with the League of American Bicyclists (LAB), will host "The Bottom Line: How bicycle and pedestrian projects offer economic benefits to communities."  The free webinar, part of PBIC’s Livable Communities Webinar Series, will focus on the economic impact of new or expanded bicycle and pedestrian facilities.

Presenters from LAB, the Adventure Cycling Association, Iowa Bicycle Coalition, and New York City’s Transportation Alternatives will discuss the latest research on the dollar value that bicycle and pedestrian projects bring to a community, as well as examples of successful pedestrian and bicycle projects from urban and rural areas and at the statewide scale.

The webinar does require advance registration.

On May 9 at 6:00 p.m., the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) will host a public meeting to provide information about the status of the McCook Reservoir flood control project, discuss the temporary closure of part of the Centennial Trail, and receive input about potential improvements to the trail when it is rebuilt.  The trail is tentatively scheduled for closure on May 13, 2013.

The public meeting will take place at the Willow Springs Community Center (8156 Archer Ave., Willow Springs).  The MWRD will also consider written comments before making final restoration plans; please submit comments by email to public.affairs@mwrd.org or write to Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, Office of Public Affairs, 100 E. Erie Street, Chicago, IL 60611.

A final rule was published, which makes revisions to the joint Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Federal Highway Administration regulations that implement the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA).  The revisions are aimed at streamlining the FTA environmental process for transit projects by establishing new categorical exclusions (CEs) intended to improve the efficiency of the environmental review process by making available the least intensive form of review for actions that typically do not have the potential for significant environmental effects.

The rule makes four major changes: (1) it creates ten new CEs to be located in a newly proposed section of the regulation at 23 CFR 771.118 (including bicycle and pedestrian facilities within an existing transportation right-of-way); (2) it expands public involvement methods to include electronic means; (3) it adds language on early scoping into the regulations; and (4) it modifies the list of project types that normally result in the preparation of an EIS.

For an overview of the rule, see the FTA presentation offering guidance on implementation of new CEs.

The second annual Illinois Bike Summit will take place in Normal, Illinois, on May 15 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Marriott Hotel’s Carol Reitan Conference Center.  The Summit will include opening remarks by the Mayor of Normal, an address on the future of bicycling in Illinois by Andre Ashmore, Deputy Director at Illinois Department of Transportation, and a keynote speech, “Bikes Mean Business,” by Steve Buchtel, Executive Director of Trails for Illinois.

The full agenda and registration form is available on-line.

The U.S. Department of Transportation John A. Volpe Transportation Systems Center will present “Measuring Walkability: The Health Question” on May 7, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. CT.  Led by Ann Forsyth, professor of urban planning and director of the Masters in Urban Planning program at Harvard University, the webinar will address the questions:

• Does the design of a neighborhood affect the level of a person's physical activity?
• Do people who live in more compact areas get more physical activity than those who live in sprawling neighborhoods?

The event is free but advance registration is required.

The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) has released Complete Streets Chicago: Design Guidelines.  The guidelines represent an important step in CDOT’s efforts to implement the City’s 2006 Complete Streets Policy.  The new guidelines are intended to ensure that all CDOT engineers, planners, and managers – as well as staff and officials in other departments – are all working to implement Complete Streets.

Along with existing bicycle, pedestrian plans, the new guidelines will be further supported and advanced by Sustainable Urban Infrastructure Guidelines and Policies, which is currently under development and will provide guidance on creating streets that are intended to be more efficient, more economical, and help to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Read more about the Chicago Complete Streets Design Guidelines on our Policy Updates Blog.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are collecting information and input from the public on priorities around increasing walkability.  The Office of the Surgeon General will use this information as a call-to-action to increase physical activity through walking among Americans. For more information, see the notice in the Federal Register.

The deadline for submitting information is May 1, 2013. More information is available in the Federal Register notice and the Every Body Walk Collaborative campaign. Organizations may submit comments through either site.

Last month, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Categorical Exclusions (CE) for Projects within the Right-of-Way and for Projects of Limited Federal Assistance.  CE pertains to the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) process.  This proposed rule is intended to facilitate implementation of provisions of MAP-21. As proposed, the rule may help improve project delivery for small projects – such as pedestrian and bicycle projects – which use Federal-aid highway program funds.  The links to the NPRM are as follows:

• PDF: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-02-28/pdf/2013-04678.pdf
• TEXT: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-02-28/html/2013-04678.htm

The proposed rule would allow CE for (1) any project within an existing operational right-of-way and (2) any project that receives less than $5 million of Federal funds or with a total estimated cost of not more than $30 million and Federal funds comprising less than 15 percent of the total estimated project cost.

The deadline and instructions for submitting comments on the proposed changes to FHWA’s and FTA’s regulations concerning actions to be categorically excluded under NEPA is April 29, 2013.

For questions on this NPRM, please contact Kreig Larson at kreig.larson@dot.gov.

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) recently released “Making Way: A Guide for Communities to Promote Pedestrian Mobility and Increase Access to Existing Transit.”  The guide was developed to encourage municipalities in the region to implement small-scale capital access improvements such as the installation of sidewalks and crosswalks near existing transit facilities.  Such improvements promote pedestrian mobility and provide added access to transit.  The guide outlines specific steps that communities can take to improve their local built environment while providing viable connections to existing bus and train facilities that will help increase transit ridership.

The City of Batavia is undertaking a downtown streetscape project which includes installation of a woonerf on North River Street.  A woonerf is a Dutch word used in traffic codes to signify curbless roadways or plazas on which motorized traffic is restricted to a walking pace, such that pedestrians and cyclists share the street with the slow-moving motor vehicles.  On woonerfs, equal priority is given to all street users – cars, pedestrians, and cyclists.  Techniques of creating shared spaces, traffic calming, and urban design are used to produce the low speeds and, ultimately, to improve pedestrian, bicycle, and automobile safety, enhance the quality of public space, and create vibrant, social places.

The Walk Friendly Communities program has created a new guide to help communities become more pedestrian friendly.  “Giving Cities Legs: Ideas and Inspirations from Walk Friendly Communities” highlights efforts from communities that sought Walk Friendly Community status during the program’s first three rounds.

The Access Board has issued a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) to include specific provisions for shared use paths in the proposed accessibility guidelines for pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way (PROWAG). The proposed accessibility guidelines would apply to the design, construction, and alteration of pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way, including shared use paths, covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Architectural Barriers Act.

The supplemental rule is responsive to feedback the Board received from the public on its proposed rights-of-way guidelines as well as on separate guidelines it is developing for trails and outdoor developed areas.  Comments from the public on these rules urged the Board to specifically address access to shared use paths since they are distinct from sidewalks and trails.  Shared use paths, unlike most sidewalks, are physically separated from streets by an open space or barrier.  They also differ from trails because they are designed not just for recreation purposes but for transportation as well.  In addition, the Board invited comment on this subject in an earlier notice. 

The proposed supplemental provisions on shared use paths are further described in a published notice which includes instructions for submitting comments.  The deadline for comments is May 14, 2013.

The European Transport Safety Council released a report that reviews bicycle safety policies in European Union cities.  The report details cycling infrastructure and best practices for facilitating safe cycling.  While design practice, policy development, and regulatory contexts differ between Europe and the U.S., concepts for safe cycling described in the report may be adaptable to local conditions and needs.