Bicycle and Pedestrian Studies

As part of this project completed in 2020 by Lee Engineering, our Dallas team conducted an extensive field inventory of 28 DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) light rail stations, including sidewalk and crosswalk conditions within a half-mile radius of each. Working with the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG), DART, and the cities of Dallas, Garland, Plano, and Richardson, we updated and analyzed GIS models of the sidewalk/crosswalk networks around each station to prioritize improvements that would maximize opportunities for walking or biking to the station.

Based on our data collection and modeling, Lee Engineering recommended improvements which included new and repaired sidewalk; associated construction such as curb and gutter and tree and utility relocations; crosswalk signing and markings; median refuge islands; road diets; rectangular rapid-flashing beacons (RRFBs); pedestrian hybrid beacons; and new and upgraded traffic signals. We also prepared phasing maps to identify high-, medium-, and low-priority projects and planning-level construction cost estimates for over 150 miles of associated improvements totaling $186 million.

For the final phases of this project, Lee Engineering supervised the development of 15% design plans for key sidewalk improvement corridors selected by NCTCOG and city staff. NCTCOG has already begun to receive multi-million-dollar funding commitments for the design and construction of some of the improvements based on the planning study results.

We have the knowledge, experience, and ability to help cities create safe, efficient, and cost-effective policies. For the Las Cruces’ Traffic Standards update, city officials needed a framework on the deficiencies within their policy, and to highlight areas of potential improvements. Lee Engineering reviewed documents from nine different agencies on existing and current policies, best practices and publications of Traffic Standards from cities with comparative size and region, and from other municipalities, county governments, state DOTs, FHWA sources, AASHTO, and other organizations. A questionnaire was also prepared for City staff and key stakeholders on their views of the current Traffic Standards. Upon completing the literature review, conducting a thorough review of the existing standards, and collecting the data from the surveys, Lee Engineering summarized the methodology, results and recommendations for the Traffic Standards update in a technical memorandum delivered to the City.

Our engineers specialize in the latest technologies to provide cities with smarter solutions. Working with the Arizona Department of Transportation, we have developed ITS drawings, ITS Standard Specifications, ITS Design Guide and Statewide DMS Master Plans through on-call contracts. By researching state-of-the-art standards and creating workshops to review useful past and current practices, we worked with stakeholders to create forward-looking directives for designers both internal and external to the ADOT. Our statewide DMS Master Plan still serves as the benchmark for locating DMS in urban and rural areas throughout Arizona, and provides design criteria for the selection of location, power, and, communications needs.

Lee Engineering developed a citywide 20-year bicycle master plan for the City of Phoenix. The Phoenix Comprehensive Bicycle Master Plan provides priorities for bicycle infrastructure investment and transportation corridors; serves as an update to the city’s General Plan bicycle element; and proposes changes to city codes, ordinances, and guidelines to make Phoenix more bicycle-friendly for residents and visitors alike. The Bicycle Master Plan provides a framework for decision-making, policies for bicycle facility design, and priorities for bicycle infrastructure investment to greatly expand and improve bicycling facilities within Phoenix. Thirty-nine corridors were identified and prioritized for future bicycle infrastructure investments.  More than 375 on-street and off-road bicycle projects were identified to complete gaps and make connections within these corridors. City Council adopted the plan in November 2014 and Phoenix voters approved a sales tax increase in August 2015 that will in part implement the Bike Master Plan projects over a 20-year period, along with LRT/other transit improvements and roadway resurfacing projects.

Lee Engineering is leading a multi-year on-call service to provide engineering reports and assistances to schools, school districts, and municipalities throughout New Mexico. Lee has completed six school site assessments for the NMDOT, in Mesilla, Alamogordo, Farmington, Taos, and Cimarron, New Mexico. The reports included documentation of a preliminary meeting with the SRTS coordination team, site visit observations, walking and biking route recommendations, signing and marking recommendations, as well as traffic operations recommendations to improve pedestrian and bike safety. These projects have led to the construction of pedestrian hybrid beacons, sidewalks, and signing developments, but most importantly, the projects have elevated the presence of a multi-modal and healthier approach to ingress and egress at New Mexico schools.

Lee Engineering worked with the City of Albuquerque to produce a conceptual design for the Central Avenue/Unser Boulevard intersection. The goal of the project was to address pedestrian and bicyclist needs rather than to depend solely on car-centric principles to accommodate a nearby developing Community Activity Center. The project included a public involvement program, conceptual design development, multi-modal operations analysis, constructability and preliminary cost analysis, decision matrix, and preferred alternative conceptual design. The team recommended a set of measures related to traffic operations and geometrics to help make the intersection accessible, safe, and efficient for all user groups – pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicular traffic. Proposed alternatives were analyzed using Synchro and Simtraffic software for traffic capacity and operations. Multi-modal level of service analysis was performed based on the recommended methods in National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) guidelines. Utilizing our expertise in VISSIM traffic software, Lee developed a 3D traffic simulation of the intersection to simulate intersection operations with proposed measures and interactions between pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicular traffic. The simulation was presented at the public meetings to help community stakeholders to visualize the proposed intersection improvements.

Lee Engineering is a nationally recognized leader in Safe Routes to School design, implementation, and education. Lee Engineering has provided Safe Routes services to the Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas Department of Transportation at the statewide level. On one such project, working as a subconsultant, Lee Engineering SRTS instructors traveled the State of Texas and provided national Safe Routes to School course training over 25 times to TxDOT Districts, Cities, and MPOs across the state. Hundreds of state and local government employees as well as other consultants participated in the training courses. For each course site, the SRTS instructor would identify example locations for use in the training workshop to localize the material to each audience.

Lee Engineering led a multi-year on-call services contract to provide engineering reports and assistance to schools, districts, and municipalities throughout Oklahoma.  Lee completed five school site assessments in Coweta, Canton, Chickasha, Elgin, and Tishomingo, Oklahoma. The reports included documentation of preliminary meetings with the SRTS coordination team, site visit observations, recommendations for walking and biking routes, signing and marking, as well as traffic operations recommendations to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety. These projects have led to the construction of sidewalks, signing and marking improvements, but most importantly, the projects have elevated the presence of a multi-modal and healthier approach to ingress and egress at Oklahoma schools.