1. General Meyer Avenue Complete Streets Improvements Project
Public Meeting Open House Algiers Regional Library February 7, :00 – 7:00 pm
Photo courtesy of The Hawthorne Agency
This 12-minute presentation will be repeated all evening until the end of the meeting.

2. WELCOME
The City of New Orleans and the Regional Planning Commission welcome you to the first of two meetings General Meyer Avenue Complete Streets Improvements Project You are invited to view this presentation and the exhibits, ask questions, and provide feedback

3. The General Meyer Avenue Complete Streets Study Project Management Committee
City of New Orleans
Council District C
Mayor’s Office of Transportation
Department of Public Works
Planning Commission
Regional Planning Commission
LA Department of Transportation and Development
District 02
Algiers Economic Development Foundation
Algiers Neighborhood Presidents Council
BikeEasy
New Orleans Regional Transit Authority

4. What is the Purpose of the Project?
To improve access for people who walk, bike, and use transit on General Meyer without diminishing automobile flow to link all users to major public facilities and activity centers within an improved multimodal transportation network in Algiers.

5. Open House Organization and Activities
Station 1: Sign-in Station 2: Learn about Complete Streets
Station 3: Show us where people who are walking, biking, and taking the bus encounter issues
Station 4: Suggest solutions for General Meyer Avenue
Station 5: Provide comments
You are here
This presentation and other project information may also be viewed online at

6. Why Complete Streets?
Promotes livability
75% of 3000 respondents in 8 cities, including New Orleans, agreed that bike lanes, combined with road, sidewalk and transit improvements would make their community more livable (People for Bikes/Neimand Collaborative 2018)
78% of 800 residents across the New Orleans-Baton Rouge super-region said they prefer to live in walkable neighborhoods (National Association of Realtors 2010)
47% of Americans say they would like more bike facilities in their communities (NHTSA 2008)

7. Why Complete Streets?
Supports economic revitalization
7 out of 11 Complete Streets projects showed an increase in corridor employment 1-2 blocks deep after completion
8 out 10 Complete Streets projects reported increased property values compared to citywide values
4 out of 6 Complete Streets projects reported increased property values compared to citywide values and similar but unimproved corridors
(Smart Growth America, Safer Streets, Stronger Economies 2015)

8. Freret Street Complete Streets Makeover
Road Diet
Freret Street Before
After
Crosswalks
Bike Racks
Curb Extensions
Shared Lane Markings
Freret Street Today

9. Why Complete Streets? Improves safety Reduces speeding
Results from three Seattle Complete Streets
Speeding fell by two-thirds
Number of drivers “speeding excessively” decreased by 11%
Speeding drivers decreased by 75% and crashes involving pedestrians declined by 80%
Source: Smart Growth America 2015

10. Improves safety St. Bernard Avenue Safety Improvements
Source: Jennifer Ruley CNO DPW
Addition of a bike lane, reduction of one travel lane, and widening the neutral ground reduced the number of severe bike crashes to zero.

11. Why Complete Streets?
Encourages healthy activity and provides transportation choice
More Walking Trips
More Biking Trips
More Transit Trips
Source: Smart Growth America 2015

12. Why Complete Streets? Low cost with big results
Complete Streets Project Cost
Increase in Bicycle Traffic
Increase in Walking Traffic
Average cost of Complete Streets Project - $2.1 million
Average cost of highway improvement project - $9 million
Source: Smart Growth America 2015

13. How Can We Complete the Street?
Provide a visible path and a protective refuge for people walking
BEFORE: People have to walk across four lanes of traffic with no clear markings
AFTER: People crossing have enough time and drivers know where they will be

14. How Can We Complete the Street?
Provide clear instructions for drivers, walkers, and bicyclists
BEFORE: People have to navigate traffic moving in all directions
AFTER: People know what is expected of them and what to expect from others

15. How Can We Complete the Street?
Protect the non-vehicular spaces with highly visible crosswalks, refuges, and 3-D buffers
BEFORE: People walking and biking feel exposed
AFTER: People walking and biking feel welcome

16. How Can We Complete the Street?
AFTER: Having your own place to drive, bike, and walk feels right
Give people a safe and low-stress space to do what they want to do and show them how to share it
to make a right turn
here
Cars allowed to cross
here
Sidewalk
Car lane
BEFORE: Biking on the sidewalk feels safer
Dedicated bike lane

17. Does Algiers Have Complete Streets?
After
Unmarked pavement
3D Flex Barriers
No sidewalks
Marked Car Lanes
Multi-use path shared by walkers and cyclists
2-ft buffer
Old Behrman Highway Before
Does Algiers Have Complete Streets?
Before Completing the Street Old Behrman Did Not Have a Place for Everyone

18. Now Everyone has a Place
Safe bus stop access and waiting area
Median Refuge with High Visibility Crosswalks
Sidewalks
No sidewalks
Unmarked pavement
Marked Car Lanes
No path to bus stop
Old Behrman Highway Before
Old Behrman Highway After

19. BEFORE Walmart builds a network of sidewalks
Old Behrman Hwy
BEFORE
Behrman Hwy
But the people who live across the street have to drive to get there

20. Safe crossing for people walking, biking, and taking the bus
AFTER
Multiuse Path
Safe crossing for people walking, biking, and taking the bus
Connected sidewalks

21. What About General Meyer Avenue?
Perfect Opportunity for Another Complete Street in Algiers

22. Resources Mismatched to Corridor Needs
corridor Assets
1 university
1 fire station
2 medical facilities
2 schools + 1 under construction
2 parks
3 commercial nodes
14 active neighborhood associations
Transportation resources
3 miles of high-speed roadway
9/10 of a mile of sidewalks
7/10 of a mile of neutral ground
6/10 of a mile of parking lanes
2 high-visibility crosswalks
0 mile of bike lanes
0 pedestrian refuges or signals

23. 50 bus stops
3 bus shelters
52 intersecting streets
7 crosswalks

24. General Meyer is a Key Connector for Existing Bicycle Network
Algiers Bike Map Routes (2016)
---General Meyer Avenue--
---No Connecting Bike Lanes--

25. What about Traffic Flow?
Street
Type
Number of Lanes for Cars
Complete Streets Elements
Average Daily Traffic
General Meyer Avenue
Minor Urban Arterial 4
To Be Determined
8,428 – 16,744
St. Bernard near N. Broad 2
Neutral Ground + Parking Lanes + Bike Lanes
11,838
Esplanade near N. Villere
Neutral Ground + Parking Lanes
12,780
S. Carrollton near Maple (4-lane to 2-lane Conversion)
15,716
Source: General Meyer Traffic Counts (2018) and LDOTD Annualize Average Daily Traffic Counts (2016)
Traffic Numbers are Within the Range of Other Successful Complete Streets

26. Pace Boulevard
Upper Avenue: 4-lane with Neutral Ground, Parking Lanes, Bus Stops, Sidewalks, No Bike Lanes
Photo courtesy of The Hawthorne Agency

27. Odeon Avenue
Middle Avenue: Undivided 4-Lane, Bus Stops, No Sidewalks or Bike Lanes, Unmarked Driveways
Photo courtesy of The Hawthorne Agency

28. Woodland Drive
Lower Avenue: Undivided 4-Lane, Shoulder, Ditches, Bus Stops, No Sidewalks or Bike Lanes
Photo courtesy of The Hawthorne Agency

29. The only fatality involved a person walking here in 2017
Total
Percent Pedestrians
Total Corridor Crashes
217 2%
Crashes with Pedestrians 4
100%
Total Injuries 57 5%
Pedestrian Severe Injuries 1
Pedestrian Fatality
The only fatality involved a person walking here in 2017
Locations of crashes involving people walking

30. What’s Next? Oct-18 Nov-18 Dec-18 Jan-19 Feb-19 Mar-19 Apr-19 May-19
Oct-18
Nov-18
Dec-18
Jan-19
Feb-19
Mar-19
Apr-19
May-19
Jun-19
Team Kick-Off
Data Gathering
Stakeholder Briefings
Preliminary Assessment
Public Meeting 1
Proposed Improvements
Draft Feasibility Report
Public Meeting 2
Final Report / Stage 0
We are Here

31. Thank You for Your Attention
Please visit our other stations
Station 3: Show us where people who are walking, biking, and taking the bus encounter issues and where the avenue is well-designed to avoid conflicts with drivers and to promote safety and community activities.
Station 4: Suggest Complete Streets solutions on three sections of General Meyer
Upper Avenue – Behrman to Pace
Middle Avenue – Pace to Kabel
Lower Avenue – Kabel to Woodland
Station 5: Write your comments on the comment card provided or record the comment with the transcriptionist.

32. A Place on the Road for Everyone and Everyone in the Right Place
General Meyer Avenue Complete Streets Study
A Place on the Road for Everyone and Everyone in the Right Place
Comments / Questions:
Phone line:
This presentation and other project information may be viewed online at