Urban expedited preliminary through final design for each intersection at the City's request.
A $5 million grant from Pennsylvania’s Automated Red Light Enforcement (ARLE) Program boosted the City of Philadelphia Department of Streets’ efforts to improve safety for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. Under an on-call contract with the city, Urban designed improvements at seven locations:
Philadelphia was under a tight deadline to allocate grant funds. We had to expedite preliminary through final design for each intersection, which included signing and striping; signal design/timing; and a plans, specification, and estimates package.
We facilitated prompt design reviews —by hand-delivering materials to city offices and impromptu face-to-face meetings — and fostered coordination between the City Department of Streets, Philadelphia Water Department, SEPTA, and PennDOT. As a result, improvements at four locations were designed and constructed in only one year.
The improvements include the addition of bumpouts, LED street lights, and much-needed ADA-compliant curb ramps; signal upgrades; and drainage improvements. Bumpouts are a tool to make intersections safer for pedestrians. Signal upgrades help improve vehicular flow and provide sufficient time for pedestrians through the use of countdown timers.