COMMUNITY MEETING 7/16/2020
REYNOLDS ST. 

HERE IS THE POWER POINT PRESENTATION FROM THE REYNOLDS STREET NIEGHBORWAY ZOOM MEETING ON THURSDAY, JULY 16. ALSO THE REYNOLDS ST. Q AND A ​



Reynolds Neighborway Q&A - Answers from the Community Meeting of July 16


Who will maintain the traffic circles, who will do landscaping, and how often? What responsibility do property owners have for snow removal, etc. and will it affect property lines? 


It will be up to the community to maintain any landscape installed by the City. No personal property will be impacted by this project. No curlines changes either.


How do roundabouts compare with 4-way stops regarding safety? How does this compare for pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers, delivery vehicles, school buses, city buses, and other large vehicles?  What specific data and sources back this up? What data is for the specific intersections in our neighborhoods?


Traffic circles are designed to reduce drivers’ speeds (keeping them typically closer to 15-20mph and under 10mph through the intersections) and improve safety at intersections by eliminating angle collisions. All of these help to increase safety for all roadway users. Stop signs are not always used. 12% of cars don’t stop at intersections. The vertical obstruction provided by the Traffic Circle will force vehicles to slow down. Crosswalk marks laws still apply, vehicles have to yield to pedestrians at the intersections. DOMI is working closely with the Port Authority to make sure buses and other large vehicles can go through these intersections.


How will we ensure that vehicles understand and correctly use the roundabouts? Will cyclists need to follow the same rules as cars? How will correct usage be enforced for cars and cyclists?


Signage will be placed along the route to educate drivers and cyclists about the correct way to use the traffic circles. Cyclists are required to yield at the intersection as well. More outreach can be done to create awareness about the use of the traffic circles!


What are the statistics from the community regarding how many people support, oppose, or are neutral for these traffic circles? How will community input affect the final design? Will these be removed or not built if there is strong opposition? Will there be further meetings to gather more feedback? 


Through the feedback survey we have received a majority positive responses:
Total (5/26 - 7/1): 166
Positive: 98 (59% of total)
Negative: 51 (31% of total)
Indifferent or Cannot Determine: 17 (10% of total)


Community input combined with engineers' data will be crucial to determine the final design.
There is no other public meeting scheduled for the near future.


Who is providing the funding for this project? 


The funding The City of Pittsburgh employs for implementing mobility infrastructure and programs comes from The City of Pittsburgh’s Local Capital Budget and from County, State, and Federal Grants.


What type of signage will be used for each specific traffic circle and other neighborway upgrades? What about other signage, pylons, or speed humps? What are the dimensions of the traffic circles? Will crosswalks be used and how? 


For the pilot in N Euclid, the sign in use is the “Keep Right” one. This could be replaced with a traffic circle lane control sign. No pylons of speed humps are part of this specific project. The size of the traffic circle depends on the intersection. The diameter ranges from 10’-16’.


What about other intersections or streets outside of those already planned?


Currently the focus is on the proposed intersections along Reynolds Street. We are not proposing additional measures at this time.


How will these affect traffic volume (including on nearby streets without traffic circles) and parking spaces? What testing have you done or what data do you have regarding increased volume on side streets? 


Case studies have shown no proven change to traffic volumes with the installation of traffic circles. In other words, while speeds and crashes were reduced, drivers continued using the same route as before the installation.  


This proposal has not been found to divert traffic volume. It’s meant to reduce traffic volume, but not as a deterrent to avoid the traffic calmed streets.


FHWA, “Neighborhood Mini Traffic Circles,” BIKESAFE: Bicycle Safety Guide and Countermeasure Selection System, 2014.
http://www.pedbikesafe.org/bikesafe/casestudies_detail.cfm?CM_NUM=25&CS_NUM=503#:~:text=Seattle's%20Neighborhood%20Traffic%20Control%20Program,at%20intersections%20of%20residential%20streets.


Ewing, R. and C. Kooshian, Traffic Calming Measures: What, Why, Where, and How, white paper for the Town of Arlington, Mass., indeterminate date.https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showdocument?id=2300






What sort of testing is being done? Which specific intersections will be used for the pilot program? 


There is currently a traffic circle pilot project at N Euclid. This pilot includes four (4) temporary installations at the following intersections along North Euclid Avenue:

• Callowhill Street
• Hampton Street
• Hays Street
• Rippey Street

These locations were chosen because they each represent different intersection scenarios that we would like to test, such as Port Authority buses at Callowhill and a higher volume of traffic at Rippey.


North Euclid is the only Neighborway location that will have a pilot.




Have a great day,


Move Forward PGH Team


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MoveForwardPGH is an initiative of the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure to implement their new Bike(+) Plan. Working with its local nonprofit partners, BikePGH and Healthy Ride, the City will engage the community throughout the process of installing new bike-friendly connections throughout Pittsburgh.