Item 32 - Santa Ana Vision Zero Plan

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Road Lane Ouantities The number of lanes on a street have a significant effect on safety and stress for people walking, rolling, and bicycling. The more lanes, the more vehicles, the more merging, the higher the speeds, and the greater risk for collisions and injuries, as shown in Section 3.6, Analysis of Systemic Safety Needs. Figure 2-4 shows major arterials can have up to six lanes but transition down to five and four lanes as they reach the center of the city. Secondary arterials will typically have four lanes but can transition down to two lanes near the center of the city. Raised Medians The safety benefits that raised medians provide pedestrians are unpar- alleled. Medians at crossing locations improve safety by giving people walking a safe place to wait in the middle of the street so they can fo- cus on looking only one direction for each side of the road they cross. The FHWA research report entitled "Safety Benefits of Raised Medians and Pedestrian Refuge Areas" found the following: "Providing raised medians or pedestrian refuge areas at pedestrian crossings at marked crosswalks has demonstrated a 46 percent reduc- tion in pedestrian crashes. At unmarked crosswalk locations, pedestri- an crashes have been reduced by 39 percent. Installing raised pedes- trian refuge islands on the approaches to unsignalized intersections has had the most impact reducing pedestrian crashes" When raised medians include plantings or colored aggregate, they create an edge friction effect that can calm or reduce traffic speeds and reduce collisions. As shown in Figure 2-5, most major arterials have segments of raised medians with some gaps. Streets with higher percentages of raised medians include 1st Street, 17th Street, Edinger Avenue, Segerstrom Avenue, MacArthur Boulevard, Harbor Boulevard, and Bristol Street. The City of Santa Ana aims for all major and principal arterials to have raised medians. 26