Reimagining Shank Painter Rd with Protected Intersections

Reimagining Shank Painter Rd with Protected Intersections
Reimagining Shank Painter Rd with Protected Intersections

Protected intersections don’t need be huge projects, and they don’t need to be at signals. Elements like turning islands can be used at busy bike intersections where there are just stop signs.

The upcoming Shank Painter Road project in Provincetown has two intersections that could easily be adapted with some of these elements.

Shank Painter Road at Bradford Street

The current plan at the intersection of Shank Painter Rd and Bradford St (Google Map) has similar issues as the Wellfleet intersection: It requires people on bikes to merge into the travel lanes with cars and trucks where the bike lane ends abruptly, It’s the same situation as the existing conditions, and it’s a challenge to merge left across two lanes of cars. The engineers explained this to me as a limit fo the project scope, since the project limits end at the very edge of Bradford St. Regardless, it’s important not to ignore how these two streets intersect.

Engineering plan marked up to show the lack of bicycle facilities at theintersection of Shank Painter Rd and Bradford St in Provincetown.

The engineers completely gave up at this intersection. They added a connecting sidewalk, which is great, but the folks riding bikes are left to fend for themselves. If you look closely you can see they specified shared lane markings between the “ONLY” and arrow pavement markings right before the stop lines. And there’s no connection to the rest of the bike network that continues along Bradford St.

Concept diagram of how elements of a protected intersection could be used at the intersection of Shank Painter Rd and Bradford St in Provincetown.

The concept diagram shows how the full width of the roadway could be used to create separation at the intersection to make it safer for people on bikes. Instead of shoehorning car parking spaces into the corner behind the sidewalk, that space could be used to create a set back bike lane, sidewalk, and landscape buffer.

Separation

Continuing the bike lanes through the intersection completes connections to the existing bike network on Bradford St and Central St.

Locating the top bike lane and sidewalk behind a landscape buffer provides comfortable separation for people who are walking and biking and creates an opportunity for a landscape buffer that enhances the streetscape.

The bottom bike lane continues to Bradford St as a standard painted lane since the street width is constrained. This concept also adds small corner islands and a small waiting area for someone on a bike to make a turn or cross the street.

Comfort

Merging into traffic lanes may make engineering sense, but it’s an unpleasant place to wait to make a turn. Drivers don’t expect people on bikes to be in the line at the stop sign, and inexperienced riders often “salmon” up the side of waiting cars in an attempt to reach the stop sign.

Providing some dedicated bike space makes the transition between these two streets more obvious for people riding bikes.

Marking bike crossings at the intersection makes it clear to everyone that there are dedicated bike lanes.

Turing right from Shank Painter Road onto Bradford St is already challenging on a bicycle since it is the bottom of a hill, so having a little space to get started would help. Left hand turns are also now possible from the bike lane by crossing the street to the existing bike lane.

Directness

When I use this intersection today, I prefer to ride down Central St to cross onto Shank Painter Rd. Central St has very little car traffic and it’s easy to see oncoming cars in both directions. Adding a marked bike crossing and direct connection to the bike lane on Shank Painter would make for a very comfortable crossing.

Concept sketch of a the Shank Painter Rd and Bradford St intersection with protected intersection elements.


Shank Painter Rd at Jerome Smith Rd

The upcomng Shank Painter Rd project includes a single-lane roundabout at the intersection of Route 6.

Comparison of the 2019 engineering plan for Shank Painter Rd at Jerome Smith Rd alongside my suggestions for protected crossings.

Separation

Combining the bike lane with the crossing at Jerome Smith Rd allows for a separated lane through the intersection to continue to the crosswalk before the roundabout. Adding separation alongh the bike lane in front of the Dog Park would help keep people on bikes out of the way of drivers coming off the roundabout. Dividing the new shared use path into bike and walk paths removed the conflict we’re all too familiar with on current narrow shared use paths.

Comfort

The current plan shows a lot of white lines across the Jerome Smith intersection, and it’s not clear what they’re for. Adding contrasting pavers in the crosswalk makes it clear that they are biking and walking zones.

Making the left turn from the bike lane onto the roundabout crossing is made easier with additional bike turn queue space outside of the roadway rather than on it. Waiting for traffic in the road is always more stressful than waiting behind a curb.

Directness

The current plan doesn’t have any way for people on bikes to cross Route 6 at the police station. Adding a crossing here to connect the two bike paths on either side gives people on a bikes a way fto fully circulate the roundabout without sharing the roadway with drivers.


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