Asphalt Art + Traffic Calming

In the fall of 2020, the City of Kansas City, Mo. was one of sixteen cities selected for a $25,000 grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to install asphalt art.

Working closely with Midtown KC Now and KCMO Public Works Department, we selected the intersection of Westport Road and Wyandotte Street with the hopes of not only beautifying the intersection through vibrant asphalt murals but also making the intersection safer for all users.

We set out to quantify the hypothesized safety improvements in two key ways. By recording the ‘before and after’ speed of cars traveling through the intersection and measuring the distance of the crosswalks pedestrians must traverse to cross the street.

If you experienced this intersection before the installation and have since experienced the intersection afterwards then you know you can intrinsically feel the safety improvement of the intersection. Automobiles appear to move slower, the intersection sounds quieter, and motorists even stop to allow you to cross the street! While it probably doesn’t require a data scientist to recognize this intersection is safer, Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg once famously said “In God we trust; all others bring data”.

So that’s what we’ve done. We’ve obtained and compiled data to ensure we could prove our eyes correctly to confirm traffic is moving slower resulting in a safer environment for all users.

Travel Speeds Before Implementation

The recorded average speed moving through the intersection during an afternoon in the fall determined the average and high speeds were as follows:

Eastbound – 28 MPH Average, 49 High speed recorded

Westbound – 25 MPH Average, 37 High speed recorded

Southbound – 25 MPH Average, 31 High speed recorded

Northbound 21 MPH Average, 26 High speed recorded

While the average speeds were not as high as we had anticipated the ‘High’ speed of each direction was way too fast for an intersection to be safe. The highest speed recorded, 49 miles per hour, was twice as high as the posted speed limit!

Study after study has shown slower automobile speeds are safer for all road users; including pedestrians. bicyclists, and motorists. The odds of a fatality resulting from a car crash are directly correlated with the speed of the automobile. According to research, a crash involving an automobile traveling over 40 miles per hour increases the odds of a pedestrian fatality to 90%+.

Thus we knew, if we were able to slow the travel speeds, we would be improving the safety of the intersection and perhaps even saving lives, if a crash was to occur.

Travel Speeds After Implementation

In order to slow the traffic we added stop signs to Westport Road, where the most flagrant speeding was occurring. In addition to the stop signs the curb extensions, which created the canvasses for the artists to create the asphalt art murals, narrowed the travel lanes which encourages motorists to travel slower when passing through or turning at the intersection.

We knew through previous projects, this was an effective strategy and fortunately the data proved us correct! The travel speeds recorded at the intersection after implementation looked like such:

Eastbound – 13 MPH Average, 23 MPH high speed

Westbound – 14 MPH Average, 22 MPH high speed

Southbound – 14 MPH Average, 19 MPH high speed

Northbound – 13 MPH Average, 18 MPH high speed

The design and implementation cut the average travel speeds roughly in half! Even more impressively is what the implementation did to the high speeds. Where we previously recorded a high speed of 49 miles per hour, we now recorded a high speed of 23 miles per hour. This improvement changes the odds of a pedestrian dying of a car crash from about 90% to 10%!

Crossing Distances

Another key metric to quantifying safety improvements at the intersection is the length of the crosswalks. The crossing distances were originally fairly lengthy ranging from 43′ – 70′. After the implementation we cut down the crossing distances to 25′ – 30′! Similar to the reductions in travel speeds, this implementation reduced the crossing distances roughly in half.

Based on the data and observations of the user behavior at this intersection, we feel confident concluding that using asphalt art to calm traffic and improve safety is an effective strategy. Intersections all over Kansas City and through out the United States are plagued with high speed traffic. Fortunately, there are proven strategies to combat this issue and even better, these improvements can be done quickly and inexpensively!

KCMO Open Streets

One of the first projects we worked on was in direct response to the pandemic from the city of Kansas City, MO. Recognizing the importance of fresh air and safe outdoor space to play, leisure, and exercise, the city adopted an “Open Streets” policy, which allowed neighborhoods to close local streets to thru traffic, in order to provide additional outdoor space while maintaining social distancing protocols.

Teaming up with Spin and Better Block, we helped implement the first handful of Open Streets and watched the neighborhoods come alive! These Open Streets allowed children and their families to play in front of their residences with out the fear of fast moving traffic. We witnessed young children learn how to ride their bikes, make new friends, and forget the sorrows of the pandemic. While the program did not last too long, it provided a unique opportunity to see in which ways our streets can be used and draw attention to the auto dominated environment they currently are.

Traffic Calming

Some of our favorite projects we completed this year were two different traffic calming installations. These projects reclaimed road space to create a safer road for all users by slowing traffic, shortening pedestrian crossings and bringing lively art to the streets!

Midtown Asphalt Art Project

The first project was deemed the Midtown Asphalt Art Project and funded by a $25,000 grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. This grant was a part of their Asphalt Art Initiative to bring more art to communities. We decided to use the funding to blend traffic calming, street safety and asphalt art into one colorful project!

At Westport Road and Wyandotte Street in Westport KCMO, we radically altered the intersection by implementing a three way stop, reclaiming 4500 square feet of roadway space, and defining the curb extensions with street trees in planters, limestone boulders and bollards.

To select the artists for the project, we issued a Request For Proposals and formed a community advisory panel to select the winning artists. Four fabulous artists were chosen for the asphalt art and the runner up was chosen for a building mural adjacent to the intersection.

This project has been a major success. Slowing down the traffic by narrowing the travel lanes and installing new stop signs, shortening the pedestrian crossing distances in half and adding a unique vibrancy to the pavement has created what feels like an entirely new and improved intersection.

Ronald McDonald House Traffic Calming

The other traffic calming project we implemented this year was in Kansas City, MO on Cherry St. between 25th and 26th. This project added enhanced mid block crossings, complete with colorful bump outs and micromobility hub.

These crossings and bump outs allow pedestrians to more easily cross the street because they are highly visible in the enhanced crosswalks and the colorful bump outs shorten the crossing distance as well as slow traffic by narrowing the travel lanes. One of the main functions of this project was to allow visitors of the Ronald McDonald Houses to more easily and safely access the newly built Fred and Jami Pryor Serenity Garden, while the project certainly meets this objective is also does much more. This project creates a safer road for all users, whether it is families of the neighborhood, students at the UMKC Dental School or users of the nearby parks. This project brings a bit of unique and vibrant color to the pavement that helps enliven the whole feel of the block.

Bicycle Parking

Over the last few years we’ve helped municipalities, neighborhoods, developers, and businesses with their bike parking needs. This year we had the opportunity to work on a few different multifamily residential projects.

The Netherlands and Monarch Storage Buildings

In the summer, we helped Exact Architects provide their residents with long term bicycle storage, short term bicycle racks and a repair station that provides 24/7 bike repair equipment. Along Main Street we added 12 right of way bicycle racks that provides 24 public bicycle parking spaces. We also installed 28 parking spaces on the premises for residents including 10 indoor parking spaces.

Proxi Student Living

In Lawrence, KS at the new Proxi KU Student Housing building, we completed our largest bicycle parking install to date. This project included 110 bicycle parking spaces, a shade shelter, and a “bike oasis” equipped with a repair station, air pump and water fountain at the northern terminus of the Naismith Valley Park Trail.

Micromobility Hubs

In 2018 when shared E-scooters hit the streets of KCMO, we spent a lot of time advocating for on street micromobility parking hubs. In 2019 we built the first three hubs of what we hope to be a micromobility hub network. This year (2020) we added two new micromobility hubs to the streets of Kansas City, MO. Both were a part of traffic calming projects with one at 25th and Cherry and the other (shown above) at Westport and Wyandotte as a part of the Midtown Asphalt Art Project. These two hubs together provide on street parking for 14 bicycles and 40 E- scooters; all without removing a single automotive parking space!

We also began to observe something interesting this year. In the past, the vehicles using the micromobility hubs have mostly been the providers who place the vehicles in the spaces each morning but this year we began to notice the users of the vehicles have started parking in these spaces at the end of their ride. We believe this increasing trend is occurring for two reasons. First, riders are starting to become familiar with these hubs and recognize they are intended for parking. Secondly, the E-scooter provider Bird has added these hubs to their app, so that riders can easily locate and identify these micromobility hubs.

Native Garden Renovation

In later summer of 2020, we had the opportunity to implement a garden renovation at the Freedom Mall in the West Bottoms neighborhood of KCMO. The Freedom Mall is a special place that honors a family who was enslaved in Kansas City in the 1800’s. The garden honors the family through steel sculptures representing each family member and sharing their stories and history.

The garden was completely overgrown with invasive species before we started. After an enormous amount of clean up, we were left with a fresh slate. Once weed guard was covered with river rock, we added over 200 native flower species to the garden. We planted a variety of native species that will provide three seasons of blooming flowers and yearlong wildlife food and habitat. Native gardens are a wonderful way to create beautiful, low maintenance gardens that also provide an enormous amount of benefits for nature and environment. They also are less expensive than traditional gardens.

We can hardly wait to see these native plantings come to life this spring! If you can’t wait until next spring to see blooming native flowers, check out some of our pictures from native flower beds we built in 2019. We have been absolutely blown away by the many bees and birds that surround these native plantings!

Looking forward to 2021

As 2020 comes to a close, we find ourselves very proud of the work we’ve completed but even more excited for the new year. We look forward to a few projects we have on deck including a district wide bicycle install with custom bicycle racks and a neighborhood traffic calming project that has been years in the making! We’ll continue to push for and implement projects that create safer, healthier communities by creating streets that are more walkable, bikable, equitable, and full of life!

In 2019 micromobility ridership continued to flourish. While the numbers for 2019 are still being aggregated, we do know in the first year of E-scooters (2018), over 30 million trips were taken on scooters on US streets, doubling the annual number of micromobility trips taken in the United States. In addition, dockless bike share trips are rapidly gaining popularity and are expected to surpass station based bike share trips over the next few years.

Unfortunately, as ridership continues to grow, the necessary infrastructure needed to accommodate and protect these riders has lagged far behind. That’s why we’re focusing our energy to add the crucial infrastructure needed to keep these vehicles secure and in an appropriate location. In 2019 we were able to add a fair amount of micromobility parking…

In Kansas City, MO, we partnered with the Department of Pubic Works to design and build the region’s first dedicated on street scooter and bicycle parking spaces, In early summer we unveiled the “Micromobility Hub”, creating a visible, organized space to park these vehicles without creating a hazard on the sidewalks. We built three of these hubs situated in the downtown loop and the Crossroads neighborhood at 13th & Grand, 19th & Baltimore, and 18th & Oak.

The Micromobility Hubs provide a safe and organized space to park micromobility vehicles on the street. Typically at the intersection between the crosswalk and on street parking without removing any automobile parking, these hubs range in size, currently spanning from 25 – 50 feet in length and can park anywhere from 10-25 scooters and 4 – 6 bicycles. We hope to build many more in 2020 and establish a network of micromobility hubs!

Later in the summer of 2019, we entered the world’s first ever parklet design competition, which was hosted by Spin as a way to creatively approach micromobility parking. We set out to create a design that allowed for people to comfortably and enjoyably wait for their transit ride after securely parking their bicycle or scooter. Dubbed “The Urban Backyard”, a transit stop at its core, our mobility parklet provides shade, a porch swing, seating for fourteen people, a variety of plant life, yard games and parking for seven scooters and six bicycles.

We were honored to be selected as the winners of this competition beating out five other extremely talented teams with stellar parklet designs. Check out this quick video to learn more about Spin’s parklet design competition!

Later in the year, we received the opportunity to build another “Urban Backyard”,

this time at CoMotionLA in downtown Los Angeles, where we had a first hand look at the future of mobility. We met some great companies leading the micromobility revolution, including Swiftmile, who are building docked stations for e-scooters and e-bikes that actually charge the vehicles. Our mobility parklet is designed to house these charging stations and can be seen below.

Back home in KC, we were fortunate to have the opportunity to lend our services for a few great projects. In the River Market neighborhood, we provided bicycle parking for two historic renovations at Landmark Lofts and Delaware Lofts, where we outfitted each building with a bicycle storage room and short term bicycle parking infrastructure.

Also, in the River Market neighborhood, we had the honor of installing the Anthony Saluto Jr memorial. This custom designed memorial serves to honor Anthony and all of those who’ve lost their lives while riding their bike. We hope that we never have to install another memorial bike rack but the reality is until decision makers become serious about creating the safer streets, the inevitable is Anthony will not be the last innocent life taken on our streets.

On a lighter note and across the state line, we completed multiple projects in Kansas. In downtown Overland Park, we installed 37 custom racks outside of various businesses, providing much needed bicycle parking spaces that also double as public art.

Also in Overland Park, at the Johnson County Library, we installed three bicycle shaped bike racks, a repair station, and an air pump. These amenities will be available for the community to use at any time and provide a great amenity to the patrons of the library. Visitors can securely park their bicycle, fill up their tires, and tend to maintenance repairs before checking out a great read.

In Topeka, we had the opportunity to work with the Historic North Topeka East Neighborhood, where we provided an 8’ x 6’ concrete pad to serve as home for a brand new bicycle repair station equipped with an air pump that we installed at Iglesia Principe de Paz. These amenities will serve the neighborhood and larger community by providing a 24/7 bicycle repair station.

In addition to the micromobility infrastructure, we also worked with natural world by recreating native landscapes. At the new office of Midtown KC Now, we installed a native flower bed with thirteen different species of native Missouri wildflowers. This garden works to add beauty to the entrance of the offices as well as provide crucial habitat for native birds, bees and other wildlife.

We also continued work on our demonstration forest garden, the Blue River Food Forest. By using regenerative agriculture techniques and native plantings. This 1/2 acre garden demonstrations ways we can transition our world into sustainable agriculture that works with nature to provide toxin free nutrients for humans while also contributing positively to the natural ecosystem.

We appreciate you taking the time to review our year with us. A month into 2020, we are already striving towards adding even more micromobility infrastructure and native landscapes to our urban areas. Stay tuned for more great projects from MDDC!

Our entry, the Urban Backyard, replaced one and half parking spaces with a transit stop that brings people together through leisure, games, and nature while providing safe organized micromobility parking. The Urban Backyard featured a shaded porch swing, seating for 14, several different yard games such as connect four, checkers, tic tac toe, and corn hole, as well as secure parking for six bicycles and seven scooters. We also had a variety of grasses, flowers and a 9’ tall quaking aspen tree. At night the parklet was illuminated by multicolor LED string lighting.

The overall concept was conceived in partnership with Confluence and we spent the week in Denver building the structure. We took first place in the Judge’s Choice, which included Blaine Merker, the designer of the first ever parklet! The ‘Urban Backyard’ will be on display all week in downtown Denver on the corner of 14th and Curtis directly across the street from the Opera House.

Upon returning to KCMO with inspiration to build a few here, we learned there is currently not a permit process allowing for parklets in Kansas City. Fortunately, city leaders, led by 4th district city council member Eric Bunch, are currently drafting an ordinance to allow for parklets in our city.

Once this goes into place we hope to partner with local organizations and businesses to bring these to the streets of Kansas City!

However, that is no longer the case in US cities. Beginning in the mid-early 20th century, we began to build our communities around the automobile. Today many hardly move throughout a city or town in the USA without first hopping in a vehicle. While the automobile has had an incredible impact on our world, in many ways for good, designing our communities solely around the vehicle has led to unprecedented levels of obesity, depression, and isolation. The development pattern focused solely on the automobile has left our cities congested, polluted, and dangerous, especially for those not in the vehicle. Fortunately, there is a way forward that can benefit all who inhabit a community. Walkable urbanism is the development and planning pattern that places walking as the primary form of transportation supplemented by micromobility (bikes, scooters, etc) and mass transit.

Creating a walkable community is the greatest way we know to have a positive impact on a community. A walkable community allows for healthier citizens (mentally and physically), a healthier environment, a healthier municipal budget and a safer, more cohesive community.

When citizens choose to walk rather than take a vehicle, they are burning calories instead of harmful toxic emissions. In addition to burning calories when walking, a walker’s brain releases endorphins, which can have positive, uplifting effects felt throughout the remainder of the day. Walking is not only healthy for an individual but for the environment as a whole. By not burning harmful emissions and endlessly expanding roadways to create a “heat island effect’, we have less pollution in our air, water, and soil along with cooler air temps in a warming climate. By creating walkable communities, we allow the natural environment to do what it does best; thrive.

Placing walkability as the highest priority of transportation can also have profound savings on a municipal budget. When the automobile becomes priority, parking becomes an insatiable quest. Over the last decade, Kansas City, MO has amassed nearly $95 million of debt in downtown parking garages alone. The expense to build automobile infrastructure is exponentially more expensive to build than walkable infrastructure and is able to transport more people!

For a community to be walkable, land use is king. Residences must located in close proximity to places of work, worship, education, food, and all other modern day necessities. After places are located in near proximity, walking must be safe, comfortable and interesting. There are an infinite number of ways to create safe, interesting walking routes but most often include safety from vehicles, active and vibrant use of space, interesting things to see, and amenities to provide comfort such as seating and shade.

Fortunately, for our city of Kansas City, MO, our original grid was based on walkable urbanism. The bones of our infrastructure provide all the essentials of a great walkable community. However, the last several decades of placing the automobile as the highest priority and nearly sole form of transportation has created dangerous and difficult walking conditions. At MDDC, we strive to create walkable communities and help to repair the damage done from overly built automobile infrastructure. Whether it’s traffic calming, micro mobility infrastructure, or other pedestrian improvements, we can help to create a more walkable community to serve all!