Safe streets for all modes of transportation remains a continuing goal of Lancaster
In order to create safer roads for all modes of transportation, Lancaster, Pa., is working on incorporating changes for the pedestrian and bicycling traffic. Many of the street safety projects originate from the city’s Vision Zero plan, which was adopted in 2020. Some of the most common ways to make streets safer are converting one-way streets to two-way streets, reducing lane width, delineator flex posts and leading pedestrian intervals at crosswalks. Parking protected bike lanes are also a new method the city is trying to promote safer multimodal transportation.
Over the years, the city has completed a few one-way to two-way street conversions, starting with Mulberry and Charlotte streets. A low-cost improvement included leading pedestrian intervals, which give pedestrians a three-second head start before the light turns green to help pedestrians get moving through the intersection and be more visible, especially to turning cars. This has been done at over 50% of traffic signals throughout the city. In order to increase sight lanes at intersections, the city has put up delineator flex posts for on-street parking to prevent people from parking their cars too close to the intersection and blocking visibility. The city currently has a running list of locations where these delineators have been requested or where there are concerns. As funding becomes available, more delineators are put up.
One of the biggest achievements of 2024 was a completed mini roundabout. The city had received complaints about the Plum Street intersection. In order to help compress the intersection and make it more friendly to pedestrians, the mini roundabout was created. There is a small plaza section as well for people to gather that includes a seat wall and public art pavers made by local artists. This slows down traffic in the area as well as creating a safer, more visible place for pedestrians.
A few parking protected bike lanes have also been implemented in two areas throughout the city. While a traditional bike lane is located between a parked car and traffic, a parking protected bike lane is located between the curb and a parked car. On-street parking places are moved out in order to make space for a bike lane next to the curb.
“It makes people more comfortable who are not used to riding bicycles on the road,” Cindy McCormick, deputy director of public works, explained. These lanes open up near the intersection, making the bicyclist slow down. The parking protected bike lane on Lemon Street was recently completed in 2024.
Since the Vision Zero plan was adopted by the city, “we try to incorporate and identify how to use Vision Zero to improve safety in those locations,” McCormick stressed.
When the Safe Streets for All funding became available in 2022, Lancaster was fortunate that its plans hit all criteria, and the city was awarded $12.7 million. The first item on the list was coordinating with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to identify other two-lane, one-way streets that could be converted to two-way streets. Since it is a five-year matching grant, the city hopes to use the first one to two years to do the planning and then use the funds to begin implementing these changes.
The city also utilizes Safe Routes to School funding in order to improve routes and intersections around local schools, including making them more walkable with better lighting. There is one campus area with four different schools. Since there is not much bussing in the city, traffic can become congested in the morning when parents are dropping students off at school. The goal is to improve these routes so students will have the opportunity to walk or bicycle to school.
A signal coordination project was completed at 90 signals downtown to retime the traffic signals. These signals were retimed in order to encourage a slower progression speed throughout downtown. Many leading pedestrian intervals have also been installed at intersections. Bike crossing with passive detection is being tested out as well so that travelers do not have to press a button to cross.
“In general, the feedback is good, and the public likes the improvements,” McCormick stated.
The post delineators in particular have been noticed by the public, and common feedback is that people feel safer crossing the street. A common complaint is losing on-street parking because of the improvements in some areas. One area the city plans to focus on is education to the public about why these changes are so important and how they are making streets safer because, ultimately, it is hard to argue against safety. Many potential projects are in the planning stage within the city. This includes safer routes to additional campuses throughout the city, neighborhood slow zones, and redesigning troublesome intersections. In southeast Lancaster, four street improvement projects are underway. At South Ann and Juniata streets, the city is working on intersection improvement, sidewalks, and lighting. At Broad and Chesapeake streets, protected bicycle lanes are planned. At South Duke Street, there will be improvements to enhance bicycle and pedestrian safety as well as angled parking. The Church Street complete street project is currently in the engineering and final design phase and will include the reduction of one travel lane, accessibility improvements, addition of high-visibility crosswalks, curb extension, a 12-foot wide concrete shared use path for pedestrians and bicyclists, addition of trees, adjustment to traffic signal timing, pedestrian crossing reconfiguration and the addition of bicycle crossing facilities. Finally, data collection is currently being completed for the second phase of an eastbound connector, from Shippen to Riverside.
