The Driver Didn’t Even Stand a Chance
University Drive in Huntsville, AL.
On June 7, 2021, Joshua Gurley was riding his bicycle on University Drive in Huntsville, Alabama, as he had likely done dozens of times before. He attempted to turn near Julia Street where, notably, the sidewalk drops off and those traversing by foot or bike either force desire paths in the turf or cross seven lanes to continue their journey. As Gurley attempted the turn, he was struck by a car and killed. On a stroad like University Drive, neither Gurley nor the driver stood a chance.
During a Crash Analysis Studio session, wherein this particular crash was scrutinized in an attempt to understand all of its contributing factors, one perspective stood out: that of the driver. Specifically, how a driver on a stroad like University Drive is set up to fail.
Melany Alliston, Toole Design’s civil engineering practice director, situated attendees of the Studio in the driver’s seat via Google Maps. Google’s street view offers a slightly wider field of vision than what the human eye would perceive, but it’s nevertheless an indispensable tool for illustrating and interpreting these types of challenges, Alliston notes.
University Drive has a posted speed limit of 45 mph, which Alliston pointed out implied a stopping distance of approximately 500 feet. Accordingly, she dropped a pin 500 feet from the intersection. “Can you see the bus stop?” she asked, knowing it was effectively invisible. “What about the color of the traffic lights?”
She moved the pin to 250 feet from the intersection, or half the stopping distance. The sheltered bus stop was marginally more visible, though recognizing people (also present in Google’s street view) required squinting. At this distance, the color of the traffic lights was discernible, but it’s easy to imagine that with the sun at a particular angle—like it was at 4:30 p.m. June 7, 2021—even that would be compromised this close to the intersection. At night, the glare and shadows cast from peripheral car dealerships, streetlights, and other vehicles would most likely amplify many of the challenges present during the daytime.
Mixed Messages
Alliston also cataloged how many visual cues are competing for a driver’s attention and what that means for the people trying to access it on foot or bicycle. Firstly, drivers need to take inventory of dozens of driveways on the road’s periphery, into and from which cars are traveling, all while moving at 45 mph. Secondly, University Drive is lined with chains fronted by larger-than-life signs intended to lure customers from a distance. These draw the eye upward in concert with the massive roadway signs befitting a highway, rather than a place that mixes foot and vehicular traffic.
As a result, smaller-scale objects, such as people on foot, compete with these larger markers for attention. “What the giant signs can also signal to drivers is that this is not a pedestrian place,” Alliston added. “The overall character [of this road] through its visual cues is that it is a highway to connect to other highways.”
Old Habits Die Hard
Exploring University Drive through Google Street View also revealed motorist habits that persist despite changes to the roadway in recent years. Alliston pointed out a curb that was installed just west of Julia Street. “It’s meant to deter cars from turning left from this lane,” she explained. “Though clearly [motorists] are still going over that curb. Every flex post that happens to be across from a driveway is gone.”
These changes make it evident Huntsville recognizes University Drive isn’t safe. In addition to the aforementioned curb, a driveway—one of two taking prospective patrons in and out of Avis and Salon Elite—was supplanted by a sidewalk. It was one of several driveways filled in that year. The city likewise added warning pads, brightly colored textured strips that notify those walking and rolling that the sidewalk is about to meet the street, and, between 2019 and 2022, the bus stop was relocated and renovated.
Huntsville has clearly been making marginal investments in this corridor and with plans for Bus Rapid Transit, that’ll continue being the case. Yet, locals fear that unless the improved bus system comes with an ambitious reimagining of University Drive, the pedestrian crash rate will only get worse.
Lessons From Maryland
When asked whether a better University Drive is possible sooner rather than later, Alliston recalled a transformation in Bethesda, Maryland.
“This intersection in downtown Bethesda is essentially a six-way intersection,” Matt Johnson, the Bikeways Coordinator for the Montgomery County Department of Transportation, explained. In addition to vehicular traffic, the intersection welcomes pedestrians and cyclists from the Capital Crescent Trail, “one of the busiest trails in the region.” The surrounding area is otherwise defined by apartments, eateries, and a variety of retail.
Despite the trail connection and its urban situation, the intersection was not only considered unsafe for those walking and biking, it was confusing for motorists, too. That confusion came with design choices that encouraged high speeds, like wide corner radii, which only amplified the risks.
A word Alliston used to describe this confusion was legibility. Making this intersection in Bethesda safer would require eliminating many of the uncertainties that distract and confuse drivers as they approach and cross it. In other words, it would involve making the intersection more legible.
“As you can see, the intersection is now much more compact with dedicated bike facilities, much shorter crosswalks, and fewer auxiliary lanes,” Alliston said of the transformation. “It greatly simplifies things for all users.”
Looking to Bethesda for inspiration isn’t about copying and pasting a solution for Huntsville’s University Drive. Yet, Huntsville should ask a question Bethesda did. It’s a question Alliston returns to time and time again in her practice: “Could my 84-year-old mother navigate this?”
“She doesn’t drive fast, but she also doesn’t see particularly well. Could she do this at night? Could she do this in the rain?” she added. “If the answer is no, I’m not doing a good enough job at making this intersection user friendly.”
Asia (pronounced “ah-sha”) Mieleszko serves as a Staff Writer for Strong Towns. A dilettante urbanist since adolescence, she's excited to convert a lifetime of ad-hoc volunteerism into a career. Her unconventional background includes directing a Ukrainian folk choir, pioneering synaesthetic performances, photographing festivals, designing websites, teaching, and ghostwriting. She can be found wherever Wi-Fi is reliable, typically along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.