Safer, Faster: Rapid Delivery Projects Remaking Chicago Streets
By Allison Porton, Transportation Planner, and Siddharth Shah, AICP, Planner + Engineer
Credit: CDOT
Over the past several years, Sam Schwartz has assisted the Chicago Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) Vision Zero and Pedestrian programs to install numerous Rapid Delivery Projects (RDP) that improve pedestrian safety and comfort. RDPs entail changes that the City can implement in six months or less using interim materials such as pavement markings, colored paint, flexible delineators, signage, and traffic signal timing.
Rapid Delivery Projects are cost-effective.
In addition to their expedited timelines, RDPs cost significantly less than similar permanent improvements. For example, when installed with colored pavement markings and delineators, curb extensions can cost around $3,000. This cost compares to approximately $30,000 for a similar curb extension in concrete. The significant cost difference allows the City to fund the RDPs locally or from existing budgets. Because these projects almost exclusively use surface treatments such as paint, their impact on utility infrastructure is minimal, expediting the design process and approvals. RDPs are typically designed in-house and often incorporated into existing contracts.
Rapid Delivery Projects are an interim solution.
RDPs are an interim solution and a way to address safety issues quickly. Following completion, the City collects data and evaluates RDPs for effectiveness in improving safety. If the RDP is successful, the improvements can be made permanent in materials like concrete through future infrastructure projects, including scheduled resurfacing.
Rapid Delivery Projects are flexible.
Because they use low-cost materials, RDPs can be adjusted to maximize safety and operational benefits. CDOT seeks feedback from community members, elected officials, and other partners before and after the installation of RDPs. Based on these inputs and evaluation results, a project’s design can be modified or slated for permanent installation when funding is available.
Rapid Delivery Projects Toolbox
Typical components of a Rapid Delivery Project include:
Paint and post curb extensions—Paint and post curb extensions use pavement markings and flexible delineators to designate space for pedestrians at intersections. They reduce crossing distances, slow turning speeds, increase pedestrian visibility, and prevent illegal parking near crosswalks.
Hardened centerlines and rubber median bumps—Left turns can be dangerous, particularly in dense areas where many people are walking, biking, and driving. Drivers making left turns often cut corners, and the car frame can block the driver’s view of pedestrians in the crosswalk. Installing flexible posts and rubber bumps can better define the centerlines of the roadway, forcing drivers to slow down while making left turns and discouraging cutting corners.
Crosswalk striping—Additional crosswalk markings are installed to match people's desire-lines while crossing a street —for example, a diagonal crosswalk marking at an offset intersection would provide a direct path for pedestrians. As a result, people driving see the crosswalk and expect pedestrians along these paths.
Signal timing changes—Leading pedestrian intervals (LPI) give pedestrians a head start for crossing an intersection before drivers, improving the visibility of pedestrians in the crosswalk. A lagging left turn is a signal timing sequence in which vehicles get a left-turn arrow at the end of the cycle, providing pedestrians the chance to cross at the beginning of a signal cycle and reducing conflicts.
Adding bike infrastructure—Striping bike lanes or adding bike turn boxes creates designated space on the roadway for people biking. Additionally, flexible delineators can be added to delineate space for cyclists better and increase their comfort while biking.
Policy changes—With every RDP, the City investigates whether to lower the posted speed limit or implement turning restrictions at intersections (e.g., no right turns at red lights). Lower speeds enable drivers to stop more quickly, see more of their surroundings and improve the visibility of other road users, including vulnerable users like older adults, children, and people walking or biking.
Rapid Delivery Project Highlights
Following are a few RDPs in Chicago that the Sam Schwartz team worked on with CDOT:
Milwaukee Avenue High Crash Corridor Project
Credit: CDOT
CDOT implemented RDP changes to Milwaukee Avenue, a designated Vision Zero High Crash Corridor (HCC), between Western Avenue and Division Street in 2017. The improvements included striped bike facilities, curb extensions, closing right turn slip-lanes, crosswalk striping changes, and a 20-mph posted speed limit. An evaluation of the project found that:
52% fewer people biked in the "door zone," the segment of the street where people exiting parked cars are likely to open their door and potentially hit a person biking.
42% fewer drivers failed to stop for pedestrians in uncontrolled crosswalks.
43% fewer people drove above 30 MPH.
The Milwaukee Avenue project was designed and funded through a partnership between the local aldermen and a Special Service Area, which serves as a chamber of commerce. Since the successful installation of the project, CDOT made a right turn slip-lane closure permanent as part of a federally funded resurfacing project.
State Street High Crash Corridor Project
CDOT implemented an RDP on State Street, a Vision Zero High Crash Corridor, and a major commercial corridor with heavy pedestrian activity located in Chicago's Central Business District. In fall 2019, CDOT installed paint and post curb extensions, refuge islands, crosswalk striping changes, and hardened centerlines at six intersections along the corridor. These infrastructure changes were made in consultation with area stakeholders, including the elected officials representing the community. The CDOT Vision Zero team collected extensive data before the project was implemented, including vehicle speeds, vehicle turning radii, and pedestrians remaining in the crosswalk after the signal changes. Post-installation data collection and analysis is forthcoming.
Rapid Delivery Projects in the Time of COVID-19
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the City expedited the installation of pedestrian safety projects downtown. Thus, in 2020, CDOT installed paint and post curb extensions at over twenty intersections in downtown Chicago. These curb extensions expanded the pedestrian space and allowed people to distance themselves when waiting to cross at intersections.
The Future of RDPs in Chicago
Credit: CDOT
We find that RDPs are an effective and efficient way to quickly implement infrastructure improvements for the most vulnerable street users. Sam Schwartz is supporting CDOT to continue installing these projects quicker and at more locations. In 2021, the team achieved a project turnaround of under two months for rapid delivery bump-outs at some locations.
The team is also considering approaches to RDPs that blend artistic designs with traffic calming to provide safe roadway designs that feel inviting and help activate public spaces, like those installed on Chicago Avenue in the Austin neighborhood (see right).
In addition to pursuing improvements at spot locations, the RDPs will be paired with policy changes along corridors, such as lowered speed limits or no right turn on red, as implemented on Milwaukee Avenue. The next step for the team is to pursue upgrades of successful RDPs to concrete, similar to the permanent slip lane closure on Milwaukee Avenue. The Sam Schwartz team is currently assisting CDOT in developing a systematic approach for these upgrades, prioritizing equity and community feedback.
Quick implementation projects are a powerful tool for advancing safety, mobility, equity, and other transportation goals in a wide range of contexts. Please reach out to us if you’re interested in discussing RDPs.
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