How well are bike/pedestrian safety pilot projects working?

Littleton’s Public Works planners, engineers, and staff are installing numerous pilot projects geared toward bike and pedestrian safety citywide in summer 2024, allowing them to test methods and materials for wider implementation going forward as part of the Safer Streets Littleton initiative. 

Pilot projects include: 

• Four trail-crossing improvements identified by the 2023 Littleton Linkages Trail Study, on the borders of Cornerstone, Ketring, Powers, and Sterne Parks. Crossings feature new crosswalks and "bulb-out" areas, which extend the curb at an intersection to shorten the crossing distance and improve visibility for pedestrians. 
• Four lane-miles of protected bike lanes along Belleview Avenue, Windermere Street, Pennsylvania Street, and Phillips Avenue. These are the first protected bike lanes in Littleton, adding physical barriers between riders and traffic – a step up from “buffered” bike lanes which demarcate a wide area between traffic lanes and bike lanes. These projects will allow planners and engineers to test different types of barriers and how they impact not just rider safety but maintenance needs like street sweeping, snowplowing, and drainage. 
• Reevaluation of pilot projects installed in 2023, including trail crossings, bikeway, and intersection enhancements. Existing projects will see further improvements based on data collection over the previous year, including stronger traffic calming measures in areas where speeding remains an issue. 
• Pedestrian improvements in the area surrounding Euclid Middle School, including new crosswalks, bulb-outs, and signage upgrades. 

Safer Streets Littleton is an ambitious effort by the City of Littleton to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety through an accelerated pace of infrastructure upgrades, increased traffic enforcement, and public education. Visit LittletonCO.gov/SaferStreets for updates on bike and pedestrian projects, and for more information about pilot projects, including a full glossary of traffic calming strategies and methods. 

Traffic Calming Strategies Glossary

Vertical Protection 

• Delineator: A flexible, plastic post that is between 2 to 4ft tall and bolted into the roadway or on top of a c-curb to provide a clear visual signal to drivers that a space is not meant for vehicles. Also called flex post or plastic bollard. 
• C-Curb: A durable, plastic curb that is raised on both sides and is bolted to the road. These are typically installed with delineators on top of them. 

Slow Speeds

• Bulb-out: Delineators and c-curb are used to extend the corner of the curb at an intersection out into the street and shorten the crossing distance for pedestrians while reducing vehicle turning speeds. 
• Chicane: A combination of two or more alternating bulb-outs placed mid-block to slow vehicle speeds by narrowing and realigning the roadway. 
• Pinch-point: Delineators and c-curb are used mid-block to extend the curb space and narrow the roadway to slow down vehicle traffic and provide a safer crossing on low-volume streets. 

Bicycle Facilities 

• Buffered bike lane: A conventional bike lane but with extra buffer space, often painted with diagonal lines, between the bike lane and the car lanes, providing more distance and safety for bicyclists. 
• Protected bike lane: A buffered bike lane that now has vertical protection installed in the buffer zone between the vehicle lane and the bike lane to signal to drivers.

Safe Pedestrian Crossings 

• Advanced pedestrian signs: Traffic signs are placed before crosswalks or pedestrian areas like school zones to alert drivers to the presence of pedestrians and encourage them to slow down and yield. 
• In-street crossing signs: Pedestrian traffic signs that are placed within the roadway at a crosswalk to increase driver awareness and visibility of pedestrians, often helping to slow traffic through crosswalks. 

Additional Strategies 

• Daylighting: Delineators and c-curb are used to restrict drivers from parking at intersections and adjacent to crosswalks to provide visibility for crossing pedestrians. - Short-term striping: Low-cost paint is used that fades in about 9 to 12 months. 

Why does the City install these treatments using white plastic posts? 

• Installing white plastic posts, or delineators, is a relatively quick and low-cost process. Posts can be installed and maintained by City staff, as well as temporarily removed if necessary due to emergencies, heavy snow, or other conditions. Just like a sewist would create a practice garment with a cheaper fabric to see how it fits and make adjustments before using expensive fabric, the city is first using low-cost, quick-to-install materials to test and refine the design and materials before seeking to make them permanent.