Agenda - 12-19-1995 - X-A - Laserfiche WebLink

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"6 L INTRODUCTION A Bicycle Route Suitability Study has been proposed to the Orange County Planning Board as a first step in the process of implementing Orange County's portion of the Durham-Chapel Hill- Carrboro (DCHC) Metropolitan Planning Organization's 1993 Regional Bicycle Plan(see Map 1). The purpose of any bicycle suitability study is to estimate the amount of interaction between vehicular and bicycle traffic along bicycle routes. By determining which bicycle routes are bicycle compatible and those which are not, the Bicycle Route Suitability Study will assist Orange County to plan for the provision of comprehensive bicycling facilities within the County and also to recommend amendments to the DCHC Regional Bicycle Plan. A Pilot Project for this study (see Appendix A for an explanation of the SRI method and the results)used the Suitability Rating Index(SRI) methodology as described in the 1993 DCHC Bicycle Plan for the analysis of bicycle routes in Orange County. This method was not used because; a)the SRI formula required several changes to adapt it for use in the rural portions of Orange County, and b) the North Carolina Department of Transportation(NCDOT) recommended the use of Alex Sorton's methodology. NCDOT recommended Sorton's method because of the predominance of SRI ratings that indicated an excessively high level of interaction between automobiles and bicycles. This report describes the Sorton methodology and presents the results of applying it to planned bicycle routes in Orange County . The methodology developed by Alex Sorton of the Northwestern University Traffic Institute in Evanston, Illinois is, in our opinion, a more direct measure of bicycle/automobile interaction. This methodology does not rely on subjective evaluations of pavement and location conditions. In addition, the formula is straight-forward and required no adjustments for use in the rural areas of Orange County. This method is an evaluation of bicyclist stress as determined by three variables: the amount of traffic, width of the road, and the speed limit of a given road segment. The final results, or overall stress level ratings, also refer to the bicyclist skill level recommended for the safe use on that particular road segment. EL METHODOLOGY Sorton's methodology is described in "Determining Road Compatibility for Bicyclists," PRO BIKE/PRO WALK 1994. Please see Appendix B for a copy of this report. A. Study Area-Bicycle routes analyzed in this project have been taken from the DCHC Regional Bicycle Plan and NCDOT's TIP Project No. E-2913 (see Map 2). The study area also includes those routes designated by the Town of Hillsborough for bicycle and joint bicycle and pedestrian use(see Map 3). The 124 road segments were divided into two groups -- 90 rural and 34 urban--based on the presence of curb and gutter, speed limit (45 mph and under suggested an urban character), and location(segments within or near town limits with the other urban qualities were considered urban). 1.