1200 West and Traffic Calming
As 1200 West nears completion, our residents might see some traffic structures that are unfamiliar to them. Perhaps it’s worth reviewing the thought behind these structures. 1200 West has been on Nibley’s Master Street Plan as a minor arterial street for more than twenty years. As the city planned for that road, we specifically sought to balance vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle transportation modes and to incorporate safety for all users. The traditional approach to building arterial roads is to make them long, straight, and wide. Traffic studies show that vehicles will go as fast as their drivers “feel” safe, and a metal sign on the edge of a long, straight, and wide road (even with frequent enforcement patrols) will not limit vehicle speeds to where they are, in fact, safe for all residents and users. Case in point, Hwy 165 divides Nibley on the east side of town. Residents who live on or next to Hwy 165 tell us that the 45-mph speed limit does little to ensure their safety, and accident reports confirm that.
As land developed along 1200 West, we have successfully limited driveway access onto this street. That’s a start, but it’s not the end. The design of 1200 West, the engineering details of which started more than six years ago, also incorporates traffic-calming structures, including chicanes, mountable islands, separated bike paths, and pedestrian bulb outs. We are preparing a technical summary of the traffic-calming features on 1200 West and will make it available on the Nibley website by September 20. I hope you will look for it. These structures might be new to Nibley, but they are not new in other parts of Utah and other parts of the US. These structures have proved to inherently limit vehicle speeds and improve safety.
I understand that new ideas can be challenging. Roundabouts were once a new idea in Cache Valley, and I believe that most of us have realized the value of them for safely moving traffic through congested intersections.
I ask the residents and users of 1200 West to give this new way of building safe, multi-modal, and complete streets a chance before deciding partway through their construction that they won’t work. Please be patient and wait for the completion of 1200 West before deciding we would rather have long, straight, and wide roads and the safety issues that they create. I readily admit that the 1200 West design deserves ongoing technical review. I assure you that our staff, in conjunction with traffic experts outside Nibley City, will continue to evaluate the design as the road nears completion and after it is finished.
I’m happy to chat with you about this anytime. Please call, text, or write.
Thank you,
Larry
Mayor, Nibley City
larry@nibleycity.com
435-512-7495