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Completed CMAQ Projects
CMAQ Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality
The purpose of the CMAQ program is to fund transportation projects or programs that will contribute to attainment or maintenance of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone, carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter (both PM10 and PM2.5).
The CMAQ program supports two important goals of the U.S. Department of Transportation (Department): improving air quality and relieving congestion. The CMAQ program provides funding for a broad array of tools to accomplish these goals. By choosing to fund or sponsor a CMAQ project, a State or local government, transit agency, or other eligible project sponsor can improve air quality and make progress toward achieving attainment status and ensuring compliance with the transportation conformity provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA).
Past Projects:
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Project - PID 108526 - Lorain CMAQ
Washington Avenue Bikeway
Project Description:
Work includes the improvement of Washington Avenue, construction of a new shared use path between Oberlin Avenue and Washington Avenue, and the improvement of West 26th Street, by installation of bike lanes and advisory bike lanes, enhanced crosswalk striping, installation of curb ramps, shared use path, and other necessary work.
The City of Lorain advisory bike lanes are the first and currently the only advisory lanes in the State of Ohio.
Map courtesy of Michael Williams and hosted at https://www.advisorybikelanes.com/
Project Map:
Project Location:
Washington Avenue from West Erie Avenue to Highland Park. Including a shared use path between Oberlin and Washington. Also included is West 26th from Ashland to Oberlin.
Project Background:
What are advisory bike lanes?
An advisory bicycle lane, or ABL, is a roadway striping configuration which provides for two-way motor vehicle and non-motorized traffic using a center lane and “advisory” or edge lanes on either side. The center lane is dedicated to, and shared by, motorists traveling in both directions. Vulnerable road users (VRUs), such as cyclists or pedestrians have right-of-way in the edge lanes but motorists can use the edge lanes, after yielding to the VRUs there, to pass other vehicles. This can sound ludicrous to those not familiar with the concept but it works well in numerous countries, including the US and Canada. This roadway configuration originated in the Netherlands where they have over 50 years and many hundreds of road-kilometers of experience with this facility.
Below is a link to information on advisory bike lanes:
https://www.advisorybikelanes.com/
The City of Lorain consulted with Michael Williams on the design of the Washington Avenue Bikeway Advisory Bike Lanes.
How do advisory bike lanes work?
Roadways with advisory bike lanes operate just like any non-divided roadway. The advisory bike lanes may be driven in if passing space is required. This is similar to moving over or waiting when vehicles are parked on a roadway making passing difficult.
Below is a link to how the roadway operates with advisory bike lanes.
How was this designed and approved?
Any experimental installation such as this must go through the Federal Highway Authority (FHWA) experimentation process.
The City of Lorain applied for experimentation approval in April of 2019. FHWA requested modifications in July of 2019. FHWA approval was granted in October of 2019.
City of Lorain FHWA Application to Experiment
Public Comment Events and Periods:
Lorain Proud visited Washington Elementary in April 2019 to discuss the upcoming project on Washington Avenue. Students provided feedback to the group.
Lorain Better Block created a temporary installation of the proposed improvements in May of 2019. They completed 138 surveys and provided an after action report on the project.
The City of Lorain released a press release on November 14, 2019 regarding the Washington Avenue Bikeway – LOR – 108526. This comment period ended on December 15, 2019.
Project Safety:
A 2021 study from the Mineta Transportation Institute found an aggregate CMF value of .56 using Empirical Bayes analysis for 11 U.S. installations studied over 8 years and approximately 60 million motor vehicle trips. This corresponds to a crash rate reduction of 44%. Only motor vehicle crashes were studied.
The City of Lorain is hoping that we will realize similar safety improvements. The installation will be studied for the next 3 years. Speeds, vehicle, pedestrian, and cyclist counts will be reviewed every 6 months. Crashes will be monitored as well throughout the project. A report will then be shared with the FHWA.
Project Information:
Contractor: Terminal Ready Mix
Project Manager: Veronica A Newsome
Cost: $152,535.75 + 10% contingency.
Completed Spring 2022