SE 34th Street Safety & Mobility Project

The SE 34th Street Safety and Mobility Project is an opportunity to help all community members get around safely between SE 164^th and SE 192^nd Avenues regardless of how they choose to travel.

There are three goals for the project:

1. Improve mobility for all users
2. Prioritize safety
3. Use low-cost solutions that can be implemented quickly

Community Engagement

To help make better decisions about how to address equity and improve safety and mobility along the SE 34th Street corridor, the City has been engaging with the community, local organizations and partners, including C-TRAN, the Vancouver Innovation Center, Evergreen Public Schools and more.

The Project has had two touchpoints with the community. The first touchpoint, starting in May 2022, included an online open house and survey to share project information with the community and ask community members to share how they use SE 34^th Street, what their barriers are and any concerns about the project. The second touchpoint with the community began in September 2022, and asked to hear feedback on the proposed design elements through community listening sessions, an online open house and survey and at in person community events.

Project Elements

Safety and Mobility Study

The study will look to evaluate potential changes to the street to improve safety and mobility for all users. This evaluation will consider:

• Repurposing a travel lane to add mobility lanes and/or shared facilities for people walking, biking, taking transit, or using a mobility device.
• Safety improvements at intersections and enhanced crossings to better accommodate people walking, biking, taking transit, or using a mobility device.
• Traffic calming design features to reduce traffic speeding.

The Technical Approach and Findings Memorandum (PDF) outlines project goals, proposed roadway changes, existing plans and data sets, and includes the traffic analysis.

The Project goals are to:

• Improve comfort and mobility for all users
• Prioritize safety for all users
• Facilitate near-term implementation

Design Plan

The research from the study along with community feedback will result in a 10% design plan for the corridor. We will incorporate this plan to inform the pavement treatment project.

After research and hearing community feedback this summer and fall, we have an initial design plan for the corridor. This design incorporates the three goals of the project; to improve mobility for all users, prioritize safety, and use low-cost solutions that can be implemented quickly.

The proposed design option will achieve the Project goals by:

• Creating a new east-west mobility corridor
• Improving access to transit for people walking, biking, or using a mobility device
• Not substantially adding to driver delays over the next 10 years
• Slowing down vehicles to improve safety for all users
• Including design features that can be completed with the paving project
• Not requiring large capital investments over the next 10 years
• Including safety improvements that would be eligible for grant funding

Proposed Design Elements

1. Mobility Lanes will provide dedicated and separated space for people biking and using active mobility devices. Between intersections, the mobility lanes will be as wide as eight feet to allow for passing or for riding side-by-side.
2. Green bars extending the mobility lane through the intersections will make it clear to people driving that people using the mobility lanes may be crossing the street.
3. Modular bus platforms will maintain ADA access to buses and minimize potential conflicts between buses and mobility lane users. The modular platforms will also allow buses to stop in the travel lane, improving transit travel time on SE 34th Street.
4. High visibility crosswalks will make pedestrians more visible to vehicles and more effective for getting drivers to stop for pedestrians.
5. Vertical barriers will provide physical separation between the mobility lanes and vehicle travel lanes.
6. The vehicle travel lane will be narrowed to 11 feet from 12 ft. This will help to lower vehicle speeds on the corridor and create more space for the mobility lanes.
7. A painted buffer will separate the mobility lane from the vehicle travel lane. The painted buffer will be between eight and five feet wide along the corridor.

Project Background and Funding

This project is just one example of how the City is implementing projects to improve safety and mobility in Vancouver. The following plans and ordinances informed the SE 34th Street Safety and Mobility Project:

• 2016-2021 Strategic Plan
• Complete Streets ordinance
• Transportation System Plan

Pavement

This project is made possible through partnerships with the City’s Pavement Management Program, local funds, and other available resources. The City’s Pavement Management Program will be performing a microsurfacing treatment to protect and extend the life of the street during the summer months.

What is a Microsurfacing Treatment?

• Microsurfacing is a form of pavement preservation that protects and extends the life of the street. It is much more cost effective than pavement resurfacing.
• Microsurfacing begins as a coarse liquid application of dense-grade aggregate, asphalt emulsion, water and mineral fillers. The quick-setting emulsions allows traffic to begin using the new surface in a short time — as little as an hour depending upon conditions. As the product cures, the surface becomes smoother. The finished sealant forms a thin shell over the street’s existing asphalt surface, extending the life of the underlying pavement.
• Microsurfacing applications are generally applied on arterial and higher volume streets.

Files

Proposed Design Aerial Views Technical Approach and Findings May 2023