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Slow Streets
Demonstration and Pilot Projects

MetroPlan is excited to enter the world of Demonstration Projects (also known as Pilot Projects). So, what exactly are demonstration projects?

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MetroPlan in partnership with the City of Flagstaff, Creative Flagstaff, and Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy (FALA), received our very first Bloomberg Asphalt Art Initiative Grant to support the Cheshire neighborhood by using art and design to make the main street safer for pedestrians and cyclists along N Fremont Blvd.

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The City and MetroPlan have been working with the residents of Cheshire to find solutions to the community’s roadway safety concerns - by restructuring the roadway to lower vehicle speeds and increase pedestrian and bicycle safety – especially as children try to access the school and park, and bike lanes blocked by parked cars. Cheshire is an intergenerational neighborhood where community members engage in the civic process to cultivate a sense of place for all its members.

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Currently, the project is in its planning phase. Artists and FALA students designed an art concept voted on by the community. Starting May 16th through the 18th, volunteers will be using eco-friendly paint to install the winning art concept onto the roadway. Please bring your friends and family to paint with us on Saturday, May 18th to the community street festival and painting bonanza. 

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Who’s designing this?

The City of Flagstaff and MetroPlan collaborate to find easily implementable strategies for creating a safer roadway for all users. This project focuses on narrowing the roadway to slow down vehicle speeds, along with enhanced crossings to key destinations such as Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy (FALA), Cheshire Park, and adjacent Flagstaff Urban Trails System (FUTS).

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Cheshire Slow Street!

Demonstration projects allow public agencies, community partners, and people walking, bicycling, taking transit, and driving to evaluate potential infrastructure improvements before investing in permanent changes. 
 

Demonstration projects take many forms. Here in Flagstaff, MetroPlan focuses on the solutions to the right, that allow creative ways to implement temporary changes through
art and roadway changes to support safe streets for everyone!
 

Each of these is intended to be temporary in nature and focuses on collecting data and evaluating behaviors of pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers that can then be shared with our partner agencies. These are often referred to as “Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper” Street Transformations.

Roadway Changes:

  • Demonstration projects allow communities to evaluate the impact of a roadway change without making a permanent investment.
     

Safety Improvements:

  • Demonstration projects are a way to test aspects of safety improvements before making further investments. 
     

Asphalt Art:

  • Some demonstration projects use art, typically murals on crosswalks, intersections, plazas, or other road infrastructure, designed to make streets safer and revitalize public spaces.

Interested in becoming a sponsor, a volunteer, or have questions? Contact us at planning@metroplanflg.org
How do these projects make streets safer?

Reshaping the Street → Some projects use art and design to physically change the shape of the street, such as by installing curb extensions to shorten crossing distances and to make it harder for cars to take high-speed turns.

 

Increasing Awareness → In other projects, just the presence of art impacts how drivers drive. Art on the ground provides a clear reminder for drivers that the street is for pedestrians and cyclists too, prompting them to drive more carefully.

Impacts to safety

The Asphalt Art Safety Study released in 2022 by Bloomberg Philanthropies in collaboration with Sam Schwartz Consulting shows considerable safety improvements across a cohort of 22 U.S. project sites after the art was incorporated into roadway designs.

 

Results include:

  • 50% drop in crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists

  • 37% drop in crashes with injuries

  • 27% increase in drivers yielding to pedestrians with the right-of-way

  • 25% drop in the rate of conflicts between drivers and pedestrians

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Photo by Living Streets Alliance (Tucson, Arizona)

Provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies

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