Liberty Avenue in Strip: 4 lanes to 2

[eschaton]

Discounting highway travel, normal travel speed in cities by car is around 15 miles per hour. This sounds slow, but honestly, if you work out within-city commutes on google maps (dividing the miles by the commute time, and multiplying by 60) you will see that the average commute speed by car is generally in that range. Of course, in different portions of a trip, we often drive much faster than this, because there are other times that we are driving very slowly or stopped entirely due to congestion, lights, stop signs, etc.

Coincidentally, 15mph is also the maximum speed you can go in order to ensure no pedestrian fatalities. Someone hit by a car going 20mph has a one in ten chance of dying. By 30 mph, it goes up to 50%, and by 40%, 90%. Thus urban traffic management, internationally and increasingly in the U.S., has looked at ways to slow down cars when traveling at high speeds, if it can be traded off against less time being spent at a standstill. This way average commute time is not slowed down considerably, but streets are much safer, not only for pedestrians and cyclists, but for drivers (as low-speed collisions tend to just be fender benders).

Of course, they do also contribute to added congestion - particularly when poorly implemented (for example, when bus stop design isn't taken into account). But in most cases where they have been implemented, they have been successful.

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

I didn't get the point of making that a suburban jab either. I live in the city and go fast on that road (especially at night) as well as do others I know who live in the city too.

You are asking for problems! I go 50 max because with the contours of the drive, it would not take much to flip a car in an "accident". I am talking about Bigelow "Speedway" (which it surely is).
You can still drive it at a reasonable speed and get to Craig Street in much less time than you would via Forbes Avenue or Second Avenue.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

You are asking for problems! I go 50 max because with the contours of the drive, it would not take much to flip a car in an "accident". I am talking about Bigelow "Speedway" (which it surely is).
You can still drive it at a reasonable speed and get to Craig Street in much less time than you would via Forbes Avenue or Second Avenue.

I go not too much higher than 50 on Bigelow as well...

[szug-bot]

Recent story on this:

Project aims to bolster safety on Liberty Avenue in Strip District | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette