World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims

Attendees standing vigil for the 22 victims of traffic violence in Durham during 2022. Luminaries were placed in the outside lanes of Guess Road at the trail crossing as a symbol of the type of measure that we would like considered to make this crossing, where Matt Simpson was killed while on his bicycle, safer for everyone.

On the Sunday, November 20, about 50 of us gathered at Westover Park for Bike Durham’s first observance of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.  It was a simple, yet powerful event.  We called for the City to complete a Vision Zero Action Plan by next November showing the roadmap for getting to zero deaths or serious injuries from traffic violence.  We also called for the City Council to fund a full-time, dedicated Vision Zero Coordinator to lead this work. 

Tyler Dewey, representing the Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee, said that for those who are walking, biking, or rolling on Durham’s streets, “The dangers are clear to us, but they don’t define us…Our vulnerability is not inherent to our bodies. It is imposed on us by systems and institutions that value speed over human life.” He continued, “There is a way forward…We must build for a people-centered future, rather than our car-dependent present.”

City transportation director Sean Egan confirmed the City’s commitment to Vision Zero and said that the city has applied, together with the regional transportation planning organization, for a federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant to develop a regional Vision Zero Action Plan.

Council member Javiera Caballero also spoke, challenging Durham residents to tackle transportation safety challenges the same way that we have tackled affordable housing. She said, “We need to be the…leader in the state. I know we can do it. When we put a bond, which is coming, in front of you all, we need you to resoundingly vote yes.”

Bike Durham executive director John Tallmadge and Bridget Bell lighting a candle for the vigil

Then Bridget Bell read a statement prepared by her friend Allison Simpson - widow of Matt Simpson who was killed while riding his bike across Guess Road, just steps from where we gathered.  This emotional moment was followed by lighting hand-held candles and reading the names of the twenty-two road traffic victims who had died this year in Durham, as well as 14-year old Riverside student Aliyah Thornhill who was killed while walking on a dark road in Oak Ridge, NC on Halloween.

We finished the vigil by placing luminaries in the outside lanes of Guess Road to narrow it from four lanes to two at the crossing where Matt Simpson was killed.  Twenty-two of the luminaries had the names of the victims and/or the dates of their crash. We all stood for twenty-two minutes to honor their memories and watched drivers slowly pass using the two center lanes of Guess Road.  We were grateful to the Durham Police Department for keeping us safe while we placed the luminaries in the street and retrieved them, and for producing this video summary of the event.

The following day at the city council meeting, council member Monique Holsey-Hyman (who also attended Sunday’s vigil) read a Mayor’s proclamation recognizing November 20th, 2022 as the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims in Durham. Allison Simpson was able to make brief remarks virtually on Zoom in accepting the proclamation. You can watch the reading and Allison’s remarks here.

Our local event, covered by CBS 17 and ABC 11, was part of a larger, growing movement for Vision Zero across the country and world.  More than sixty communities in the U.S. and hundreds across the world held Day of Remembrance events on November 20th (recap here) with the theme of “Remember. Support. Act”.  

Importantly, US Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sat down for an interview recognizing the Day of Remembrance (you can read remarks from the Secretary and watch a recording of his comments here). This was an important reminder that this year the federal government has set a direction to eliminate deaths and serious injuries.  NCDOT adopted a Vision Zero policy in 2015, the City of Durham adopted a Vision Zero resolution in 2017, and our regional transportation planning organization adopted a goal of zero deaths or serious injuries due to traffic violence by 2050.  

The direction has been set and is aligned from the federal to the state to the regional to the local level.  But resolutions and policy statements won’t save lives. This past Sunday, The NY Times ran a story about how the number of roadway deaths in the U.S. began increasing in recent years while it has continued to fall in countries across the world.

Now it is past time for our leaders and government agencies to act on their commitments.  Bike Durham will be working with partners and supporters to move our local, regional, and state governments to action in Durham, starting with our calls for a Vision Zero Action Plan to be completed by the 2023 Day of Remembrance and for funding a full-time, dedicated Vision Zero Coordinator.

Let's Celebrate our Victories on Erwin Road

Last week, the City painted the green bike boxes on Erwin Road at the intersection with Anderson Street. This is the most visible example so far of the safety improvements that we were able to gain through our advocacy with the City this summer. While many of the improvements that we asked for to improve safety for people walking, biking, and using transit on Erwin Road were not approved, we should celebrate the improvements that have been made. Without the voices of advocates calling for an Erwin Road that works for all users, it’s unlikely that NCDOT would have made any changes at all.

Green painted bike boxes on Erwin Road at the intersection with Anderson Street

The Improvements to Look for on Erwin Road

The City of Durham was able to convince NCDOT to approve the following safety improvements for people walking, biking, and using transit on Erwin Road:

“The changes to Erwin Road now advancing will improve safety for pedestrians with high-visibility crosswalks, additional crossing time, including a green “walk” signal for pedestrians ahead of the green for vehicular traffic (Leading Pedestrian Interval or LPI). To address cyclist safety, the project adds a new buffered bike lane between Flowers Drive and Anderson St. and adds a 2.5’ buffer to the existing bike lanes between Anderson St. and the NC 147 overpass, along with green pavement markings at intersections to draw attention to the bicycle facilities.” (excerpted from letter by Durham Transportation Director Sean Egan to Bike Durham Advocacy Chair Erik Landfried dated August 19, 2022)

Our understanding from the City staff is that the City also intends to install flex-post delineators to the buffered bike lanes mentioned above in order to further separate people on bikes from the traffic lanes.

What’s a Bike Box and How do I Use It?

At the intersection of Erwin Road and Anderson Street, the City has painted green bike boxes, providing a refuge for people on bikes who are making left turns from Erwin onto Anderson. If you are approaching the intersection on your bike while the light is red, or turning red, you can continue in the bike lane (also green near the intersection) until reaching the large green box at the intersection. Here, you can move to the left to be in front of the first car waiting to turn left. (Drivers must wait behind the bike box while waiting for the light to change.). Then when the light turns green, you are at the front of the line of vehicles to turn left. This makes you more visible in the intersection, and provides strong visual cues for drivers about where to look for people riding bikes. Here is a link to a video clip about how to use a bike box - from Iowa City, Iowa.

Our volunteer leaders on the Erwin Road advocacy, David Bradway and Erik Landfried, joined me on Wednesday morning to educate people biking through the intersection about how to use the new bike boxes. We were also able to make sure that they had lights and a bagel!

Getting the Other Changes We Need

There is a lot of work left to be done to get the changes that people walking, biking, and using transit along Erwin Road need to stay safe, and to make Erwin Road a great street for everyone. We continue pushing the City, NCDOT, and Duke University to commit funds to develop a plan to make Erwin Road a safe and great road for all. The first opportunity for that may be through a bus rapid transit (BRT) study that is expected to be included in the final Durham County Transit Plan this winter.

Through David Bradway’s leadership, we are also continuing to engage with Duke staff and students to encourage their active participation in identifying ways to connect through campus as an alternative to biking and walking directly on Erwin Road.

Finally, we have a team of volunteers we call the Safe Streets Research Team who are gathering insights from other communities about how to effectively advocate for changes with NCDOT. We’re also coordinating with the City’s Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) to advocate for safety improvements on streets scheduled for repaving by NCDOT and the City in 2023 (see letter from BPAC Chair Susanne Schmal to City and County staff).

We’d like you to volunteer with us to make Erwin Road and all of Durham’s streets safe for everyone. Contact Erik Landfried at erik@bikedurham.org to plug into our advocacy work - our Advocacy Committee meets monthly on the third Thursday at 7pm.

Walk and Roll to School Day is almost here!

As the community transportation planner for Durham Public Schools, I spend my days observing, planning, and coordinating ways to improve multi-modal school travel, this day is as close as we come to a holiday in my line of work (in addition to Bike and Roll to School Day, Bus Driver Appreciation Day, and Crossing Guard Appreciation Day).

Walk, Bike, and Roll to School events promote physical activity, sustainable travel, and strengthen social connections between families, schools, and the broader community. These events celebrate active travel to school and can also help build awareness for the need to prioritize the safety of young people walking and bicycling. 

Walk to School event at Merrick-Moore Elementary in Spring 2022

I sometimes feel conflicted when a walking and biking to school event requires detailed coordination, permission slips, and law enforcement support to close streets or to escort families along a route. I don’t dispute that these precautions are often necessary, but I also think it makes these events look like an extraordinary undertaking, when really, walking or rolling to school should be an easy, everyday occurrence—a choice that is safe, comfortable, and familiar for every family that lives close to the school their student attends. The ability to walk, bike, or roll to school can also foster independence and ensure that students observe and experience their world at a human-scale, not just through the passenger window of a vehicle. 

I see two key domains when it comes to increasing the number of families whose students can walk, bike, ride the school bus, or take transit—our built environment (i.e., land use, street design) and our social context (i.e., social norms, policies). We need to turn the tide on both fronts while also considering how these domains influence each other. 

A safer, more inviting environment for multi-modal school travel could look like streets with lower driver speeds and vehicle volumes; more dedicated space for walking and biking; conspicuous and accessible crossing locations; and a robust network of transit options. Ultimately, streets that work for our youth will work better for everyone. I recognize that the location and design of school sites also affects transportation outcomes for our students. While Durham Public Schools (DPS) can pursue initiatives that improve the safety and efficiency of internal site circulation and access onto campuses, we value our positive working relationships with the City of Durham, North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), Durham County, and the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (DCHC MPO) to keep school travel in mind when identifying and prioritizing local and regional transportation projects.  

Photo of youth and adults participating in Walk, Bike, and Roll to School Day for Pearsontown Elementary School in May 2022

Walk, Bike, and Roll to School Day activity for Pearsontown Elementary School in May 2022

Safer streets are game changers for encouraging active travel, but we still need the next generation of Durham residents to be able and excited to ride bikes and to choose walking or riding transit when those modes are reasonable options for a trip. We also want the next generation to know what is possible when it comes to the design of our cities and how we get around so they can continue advocating for improvements. Bike Durham’s Safe Routes to School program, supported through a contract with the City, provides education and encouragement for walking, biking, and rolling to school.  Teaching Bike Riding and Walking Safety skills during physical education classes and coordinating Walk, Bike, and Roll to school events are important steps for shifting our transportation culture. Bicycle riding and walking safety education involves the development of skills, not solely the acquisition of knowledge, so it’s significant that these weeks-long classes provide the time and space for students to practice. The classes also have a multiplying effect since they empower physical education teachers to teach the curriculum in the future and as a conclusion to the classes, Bike Durham plans a bike festival at the school so that families can observe and celebrate their student’s improved bicycling skills. 

My children are four and a half and one and a half. My older child has been to a few Walk, Bike, and Roll events for my own version of “bring your daughter to work day.” When we are going somewhere new, she usually asks me if it will be a walk or drive. I’m dreading the day when she stops asking because she realizes that so many of our trips are drives. 

Photo of Kristen Brookshire with her young daughter

Kristen Brookshire with her young daughter

I’m glad we have Walk, Bike, and Roll events at least twice a year for the smiles they bring to the faces of thousands of students and for the visual reminder to grown-ups to stop and think about what it would take to see kids walking and biking more often. These events have taken place around the country for over 25 years and there is a good reason—they can inspire change. These changes could range from improving a single pedestrian crossing or PTA-led monthly events or walk audits, to a city-wide school traffic safety committee or a new school district policy codifying the importance of active school travel. 

I hope you’ll be out walking on Wednesday, October 12 or cheering along the kids walking and rolling in your neighborhood!

Kristen Brookshire

Community Transportation Planner

School Planning, Transportation, and Nutrition

Durham Public Schools

Another Hit-and-Run Driver Sends a Friend, who was Riding his Bike, to the Hospital

On the evening of Friday, September 9th, a Bike Durham member and frequent volunteer was struck by the driver of a truck while cycling through the Five Points intersection in downtown Durham. The crash was a hit-and-run, though we understand that the driver and vehicle have been located thanks to several eyewitness accounts. Two off-duty paramedics immediately assisted the crash victim until an ambulance could arrive at the scene.

Photo of damaged bike on ground at Five Points in Durham following crash when driver hit man on bike and drove away

Photo of damaged bike on ground at Five Points on September 9

The crash victim suffered a fractured pelvis and broken hand and is currently recovering in the hospital following three surgeries. Despite this, he is in good spirits and plans to continue biking and advocating for safer streets in Durham once he recovers from his injuries. Bike Durham wishes him a speedy and complete recovery.

Unfortunately, these types of crashes are all too common in Durham. On average every 16 days someone is killed or seriously injured while walking or biking in Durham. Just two months ago, Matt Simpson was killed crossing Guess Road on his bike with his family. These tragedies will continue to occur in Durham as long as motor vehicle speed and delay at intersections continue to be the number one priority for how our streets are designed.    

The formula for safer streets is simple:

  1. Reduce motor vehicle speed on all streets. Speed kills.

  2. Create fully protected places for people walking, biking, and using transit on larger streets. 

  3. Shift funding away from projects that make it easier to drive to projects that make it easier to walk, bike, or use transit.

Cities that have implemented a human-centered transportation system instead of a vehicle-centered one have achieved remarkable success. Oslo, Norway, a city twice the size of Durham, recorded zero pedestrian or cyclist fatalities in 2019 and only a single vehicle fatality. This is not some type of Scandinavian exceptionalism - Oslo had 41 traffic fatalities as recently as 1975. By prioritizing people instead of cars, Oslo made the streets safer for everyone, not just those walking or biking.

The City of Durham must do more to implement the Vision Zero program adopted in 2017. Vision Zero is a framework to eliminate traffic fatalities. There needs to be dedicated funding for the Vision Zero program in the City’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget, beginning with the hiring of a Vision Zero coordinator staff position.

The City should also begin conducting more holistic crash investigations that include people from the City, State (if it is on a State-maintained road), and transportation safety advocates. They should also produce follow-up reports available to the public following each crash that leads to a fatality or serious injury, similar to those done in Washington, DC.

Bike Durham Member Cynthia Bland on Her Car-Free Summer

I appreciate the friends and family who have offered rides and the strangers with their tepid or apologetic waves as I've lived car-free this summer, but I don't need those. Instead, I ask you to contact your local and state government leaders to support your friends and neighbors who travel by walking, rolling, riding bikes or transit. We need safety, visibility, care, and funding. 

For context, I was in a severe crash in June where my car was totaled.

The totaled car

I was headed to get a Friday night milkshake at the Cook Out when the driver of a cargo van turned left in front of me and crashed into the driver’s side door of my Corolla. I blame this crash on a flashing yellow turn signal that lulled this driver into thinking it was safe to turn left. The driver wasn’t sure exactly what happened, except that it was his fault, and he was really sorry. I’m grateful to the good vehicle engineering that left me remarkably OK and just some lingering neck soreness these two months later.

Site of the crash

It’s hard to get a car these days and part of me doesn’t want a car again. I struggled with the idea that I could look at this as an opportunity to make a personal change, but it’s been hard to get around Durham without a car. I worry about my safety as a pedestrian and cyclist. Even being on the fence, I started the paperwork and contacted a car dealership and my credit union soon after the crash and it still looks like it’ll be September before they can secure a car for me. I wasn’t too worried since I’m a household of one, don’t travel a lot, mostly work from home, live near a grocery store and on some bus routes.

Plus, I love my bike! A big thank you to the folks at Bullseye Bicycle who listened to my needs and got me set up in 2019. My office in RTP reopened in late June. One of the things I missed about the office was a once or twice a week trip by bike. It’s 40 minutes each way. Much of that is on the American Tobacco Trail (ATT), but also includes a few places that feel uncomfortable with traffic. 

Cynthia Bland

So what’s not working? Much of it can be summed up as: Cars. Or more specifically that Durham plans for and prioritizes cars and little else. Drivers go really fast! It’s a me-first attitude. Our city is designed so that cars get to take up space and people walking or cycling seem barely considered.

It’s also summer and it’s hot out. There’s very little shade on our streets. Organizations like Keep Durham Beautiful do great work to increase our street trees by raising money to plant native species, but trees grow slowly. The bus stops near my house are just posts without benches or shelters. Fellow riders and I try to stand in the shadow of the power poles or anything for a respite from the direct sun. My floppy brimmed hat helps, but walking in this heat or even waiting at bus stops without shade is hard.

GoDurham bus stop on Fayetteville Road

As a kid I was confused by the Shel Silverstein book “Where the Sidewalk Ends” because it ended in so many places! My mom had to explain that in cities like New York and DC sidewalks are continuous. They sure aren’t in Durham! I live in a neighborhood with walking trails, but not sidewalks. To get to the bus stops I walk through sections of town where there aren’t sidewalks or they start and stop. Last week I traveled to a conference out of town so I took my rolling suitcase with me as I walked and took three buses to RDU. I rolled it more than I carried it, but just barely. Sometimes the sidewalks need intensive repair and other times they’re blocked by signage or seemingly random spools of heavy wire.

Where the Sidewalk Ends, Durham style

Sidewalks connect people and places. They’re the last little bit that can make a trip feel safe or dangerous. I would have more choices of destinations near my home if we had more continuous sidewalks and if there were safe places for people to cross bridges. I live near Southpoint Mall and the roads over I-40 are not at all designed for people to travel by foot. Sidewalks make a place feel like a community and are vital to the transportation of people with wheelchairs, strollers, or luggage.

I would love to see more prominently marked crosswalks. The zebra-style crossings look more like crosswalks to drivers and maybe that type would keep cars out of the crossing areas at intersections. Mostly, I’d really love the white walk signal to actually mean it’s safe for me to cross the street. I discovered this summer that it doesn’t! The traffic lights are set up to allow drivers to think it’s their turn when it’s also my turn to walk. This is a huge conflict and has led to several close calls since I have to turn and keep looking back for turning left-traffic and ahead for right-turning traffic. That sore neck hasn’t made this any more fun.

It would help for drivers to use turn signals. They're cheap and easy! Please use them all the time, not just when you think another car needs to know where you're headed. They’re super helpful to pedestrians and cyclists. Using turn signals should be a habit and not a decision. A bit of advice to new drivers that seemed obvious was “look where your car is going.” Wow, huh? Well, it’s excellent advice related to turning! I can tell that many drivers are not looking where they are going. If they were, they might notice a person trying to cross the street.   

Turning to transit, many of our GoDurham and GoTriangle bus routes only come every 30 minutes or 60 minutes. This lack of frequency means transit users have to meticulously plan our day! There are some decent apps for this, but riders pay a high price for their time when bus schedules don’t align or when you have to arrive somewhere 45 minutes early so you’re not 15 minutes late.   

Many transit routes are organized to funnel riders to our downtown station. That worked well in a world where people commuted to a job each day. But there are other reasons to use the bus like shopping, childcare, doctors, entertainment and this model doesn’t work as well. There’s also evidence that this type of model doesn’t serve women as well as men. Women tend to travel in off-peak hours and link more errands or activities together. The move toward telemedicine is helpful in some situations and I wish my doctors would be more adaptable in offering that for situations that are more conversational.

Most GoDurham routes end at the downtown bus station

Back to cars: people tout the freedom and pure fun of driving. That’s totally fine! But while they say they love driving, they don’t demonstrate it. I see so many people who are much more interested in their phones than the road. Please show your love for driving by using care, focus, and attention! 

That’s a lot of complaining, but I’m having a great summer! I’ve gained strength by riding my bike more often. I’ve enjoyed summer smells and breezes, increased my time with birds and nature, eaten blackberries along the ATT, stopped for ice cream and donuts, said hello to more people and had fun! This whole post is apparently about how I only travel for my sweet tooth! I’m proof that people on buses, bikes, and sidewalks really do stop into more shops than people driving who are worried about finding parking.

My story isn’t a sad one. I’m OK from my crash. I can afford a new car loan. I haven’t missed out on summer adventures. I’m not worried about me, but I’m worried about our community. We need to prioritize people in Durham. That means all people. We need a city where we can work, shop, attend school, visit parks, and enjoy entertainment without having to use a car or be subject to traffic violence. 

I believe that being a true local shouldn't be about the university you went to, team you root for, hot restaurant you're a regular at, or how long your family has lived here. I feel like a real local knows where their closest bus stop is to their residence. What's that route number? How often does it come? Where does it go?  

Talk to your city, town, county, and state leaders. Donate and get involved with local advocacy organizations like Bike Durham. Even if you have and use a vehicle, make a plan to use transit! It’s not just for people who have to use it. Start with a bus near you: What are the points of interest you might use? Plan a trip to explore and have fun!   

Bike Durham’s Open Letter to Local Officials on Erwin Road Repaving

On August 2, 2022, Bike Durham sent a letter to the local NCDOT district engineer, the City’s director of transportation, and the VP for Administration at the Duke University Health System. The letter outlines our disappointment with current restriping plans, which will essentially keep Erwin Road as-is rather than making it safer for all users. The text of the letter is below.

Statement about the Death of Matt Simpson

We are deeply saddened at the tragic news that Matt Simpson died Friday after being hit while bike riding with his wife and two young children last Sunday. We are angry at the driver, Omari Newsom, who crashed into Matt and then drove away from the scene after removing the bike from under his car. And we are fed up with the officials at legislature, NCDOT, and the City who have not done enough to keep us all safe while walking and biking on Durham streets.

This tragedy is not isolated. On average every 16 days someone is killed or seriously injured while walking or biking in Durham. Unfortunately, it is often difficult to find out details about the victims and their families' interests. Through neighbors, we have been connected with Matt's widow and know that she wants Matt's memory honored with the placement of a ghost bike at the site where he was killed. We will follow up soon with details about the ghost bike event and how you can get involved to make our streets safe for everyone.

Here are links to two media stories about what happened:

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article263536723.html

https://www.wral.com/durham-police-search-for-hit-and-run-driver-after-bicyclist-crash/20368469/ (from last Monday)

Learn more about our Safe & Healthy Streets work here.

Creating a Better Erwin Road

Most people in Durham have likely experienced Erwin Road in some capacity, whether driving to a medical appointment at a Duke clinic, taking a bus to the VA Hospital, biking to work, or walking to class. This experience is generally not a positive one. The road is very wide, there are limited bike lanes, no bus lanes, and sidewalks are usually right up against the road, making it very unpleasant to walk. It is, like so many wide roads devoted mostly to private vehicles, dangerous. There were over 350 crashes on this corridor between 2017-21, including 19 involving people walking. Despite the presence of a pedestrian tunnel, the most crashes occurred at the intersections directly in front of Duke Hospital and the VA Hospital.

Source: Google Maps

The Previous Vision for Erwin Road

For most of the 2010s, the plan was to transform Erwin Road by adding a light rail line along it. Even then, many compromises had to be made because the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), who owns and maintains Erwin Road, would not allow the removal of any general purpose lanes despite the fact that more people would be able to access the residential areas, restaurants, world-renowned medical services, and tens of thousands of jobs using transit. Still, light rail and associated improvements for people walking and biking along Erwin Road would have provided significantly better access for people living and working in the area.

Unfortunately, no comprehensive vision for Erwin Road has been developed since the light rail project ended over three years ago. One of the options shown to the public in the ongoing update to the Durham Transit Plan included a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line along Erwin Road. BRT, if done well, can mimic many of the best aspects of light rail. However, no work has yet been done to flesh out this concept and it’s not clear whether BRT along Erwin Road will make it into the final Transit Plan update or be anything more than a slight improvement over current bus service.

The Next Opportunity

The lack of a current vision for Erwin Road means that when opportunities arise, they are often missed. One such opportunity is occurring this fall when NCDOT will be repaving Erwin Road, something that last happened 15 years ago. Roads have to be restriped after they are paved, but they don’t have to be restriped the same way they were before. Durham has long taken advantage of this low-cost opportunity to repurpose excess space for private vehicles to create bike lanes, bus stops and better crosswalks. In fact, most of the existing bike lanes in Durham were created through repaving projects.

According to their own Complete Streets Guidelines, NCDOT is expected to consider improvements that will enhance the safety and access of those walking, biking, using transit, and driving:

They did not do so on Erwin Road and have not done so for any NCDOT-maintained road in Durham to our knowledge. NCDOT also moved the repaving of Erwin Road up a year, shortening the planning time for any restriping changes that could make the road safer, more accessible, and more inviting. The City of Durham and local transportation advocates recognized that an opportunity existed despite the short timeframe. Unfortunately, the City did not have staff capacity to do the necessary design work and public engagement in-house, so they hired a consultant. The scope of the contract focused mostly on potential transit improvements—a good start for sure—but did not include a more holistic set of potential improvements such as dedicated lanes for people biking.

To meet NCDOT’s requirements, the consultant had to determine whether these potential changes would cause traffic to be delayed at intersections in the year 2035. This nearly singular focus on intersection delay, often codified in a misleading concept called Level of Service, is problematic for a number of reasons. First, it assumes that other goals of a transportation system—safety, equity, health, sustainability, accessibility—are secondary to making sure people don’t have to hit the brake pedal for too long. Second, projecting future traffic delay relies on imprecise traffic models that will almost certainly be wrong. Just as no one would have predicted huge traffic decreases in 2020 due to a pandemic and shift to telework, no one knows what traffic will be like in 2035. Finally, these projections fail to take into account how many people will switch to walking, biking, and using transit when these modes of transportation become more enticing.

The initial ideas presented to NCDOT included bus lanes in both directions on Erwin Road or, if that was not feasible, a bus lane in either the eastbound or westbound direction.

Bus Only Lanes in New York City

Source: https://nacto.org/publication/transit-street-design-guide/transit-lanes-transitways/

All of these options were rejected by NCDOT because they do not believe there is enough spare capacity on Erwin Road to repurpose any lanes. In other words, NCDOT believes that the majority of road space on Erwin Road should continue to be for private vehicles and that even more road space would need to be created to accommodate other ways of moving around.

If Durham is going to get serious about addressing its transportation and sustainability goals, adding more asphalt is not the answer. We have to be more intentional about how we use the space that is already paved on our streets. On Erwin Road, that means carving out some of that space to make walking, biking, and using transit safer and more reliable.

As a reminder, these concerns about capacity are based on imprecise projections looking out thirteen years into the future. Remember also that this project only includes new pavement and new paint. If bus and/or bike lanes really create massive traffic jams, make the street less safe, or delay emergency vehicles in the future, they can quickly be converted back to general purpose lanes until a better solution can be found.

Unfortunately, the City and its consultants abandoned the idea of bus lanes and quickly shifted to looking at smaller improvements. These smaller improvements are still being developed but may include more and improved pedestrian crossings and queue jump lanes for buses. Queue jumps allow buses to use the right lane to move ahead of other traffic at certain intersections, which gives them a speed and reliability advantage over general traffic.

Source: https://nacto.org/publication/transit-street-design-guide/intersections/intersection-design/queue-jump-lanes/ 

A Vision for Erwin Road

While things like queue jump lanes would be welcome improvements, they fall far short of what Erwin Road needs to be. It is a big challenge for most people to envision what a street that’s existed in its current state for decades could potentially look like, so we asked for examples of great streets in front of major hospitals in North America. One of the best examples people sent us is Broadway in Seattle:

Source: Google Maps

Look at how much Seattle is able to accomplish in a much narrower space than Erwin Road! Two general purpose lanes w/streetcar tracks, a center turn lane, two-way cycle track, on-street parking, and wide sidewalks with street trees. This is a street that is safe and inviting for everyone who uses it, whether they are walking, riding in a wheelchair, biking, using transit, or driving.

Meanwhile, on Erwin Road…

Source: Google Maps

Despite being up to 60% wider than Broadway in Seattle, there is no protection for people biking, no priority for the thousands of people who use transit on Erwin Road every day, wide lanes that encourage speeding, and narrow sidewalks, oftentimes right up against that speeding traffic. A repaving will not create streetcar tracks or the curb between the cycle track and general travel lanes, but there is more than enough room for a shared bus/bike lane that can also be used by emergency vehicles if we decide to prioritize it. 

Shared bus/bike lanes have become increasingly popular in the United States. They are not a perfect solution because of continued conflicts between cyclists and buses and where possible, both cyclists and buses should have their own dedicated lanes. However, it eliminates conflicts with the things that are the biggest safety hazard to cyclists and cause for delay for buses, which is cars. Despite an initial rejection from NCDOT engineers, the City should continue to push for these lanes and present them to the public for their consideration. The good news is that there is already an example of a shared bus/bike lane in North Carolina in Charlotte, so Durham does not need to reinvent the wheel:

Source: https://charlottenc.gov/newsroom/cityhighlights/Pages/Bus_bike_lane_debuts_on_4th_Street.aspx

What’s Next

Even if we can get bus and/or bike lanes and improved pedestrian crossings during this repaving, that will not be the end of the story. Paint alone is not going to create a safe, accessible, and beautiful Erwin Road. The City, NCDOT, and key stakeholders along the corridor like Duke University, Duke Hospital, and the VA Hospital must commit to developing a long-term plan for the road and figure out how to fund its construction. But we can also do a lot now to make significant progress towards making Erwin a road Durham can be proud of.

Last year, Bike Durham called for a bold vision of Zero Carbon Emissions, Zero Deaths or Serious Injuries, and Zero Racial or Economic Disparity of Access as the major goals of a regional 2050 transportation plan, which was adopted by local elected officials. Now it’s time to make that vision a reality. You can support us by signing up for updates on the Erwin Road repaving project. Public engagement is scheduled to begin in July and time will be of the essence, so we will need your voices.

Click this button to receive updates on Erwin Road, including information about public meetings and ways to provide input online.