Williamson Road
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Williamson Road Improvements City of Roanoke
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Williamson Road has long served the City of Roanoke, and the Valley at large, as an integral business district. The business district is an antiquated commercial area which faces a number of challenges which include “deteriorating curbing, guttering, and sidewalks; poor ingress and egress from businesses; excessive public and private signage; conflicts between pedestrians and automobiles; absence of any landscaping and other visual and pedestrian amenities; and obsolete commercial buildings which predate current zoning requirements. These conditions have an impact on the adjacent residential neighborhoods where over twenty five percent of the City’s population lives.”1
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Williamson Road
Phot o by
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The City of Roanoke believes that “[...] streets play an integral role in establishing the image of a community in that they affect the health, vitality, quality of life, and economic welfare of a city.”2 The City is exploring opportunities to rehabilitate the corridor in order to create a safer, accessible, and more vibrant roadway to support commerce, the adjacent neighborhoods, and all modes of transit.
By The Numbers: Between 2011 and 20163 1,061 Total Crashes
Photo by: City of Roanoke Staff
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76% involved Property Damage 24% involved Sustained Injuries
Image From: Google Earth Street View
Travel Lane
Left Turn Lane and Landscaped Median (Alternating)
Williamson Road Improvements City of Roanoke
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What Is A Road Diet? And, why is Williamson Road an ideal candidate? A roadway reconfiguration known as a Road Diet offers several high-value improvements at a low cost when applied to traditional four-lane undivided highways. In addition to low cost, the primary benefits of a Road Diet include enhanced safety, mobility, and access for all road users and a “complete streets” environment to accommodate a variety of transportation modes. A classic Road Diet typically involves converting an existing four-lane, undivided roadway segment to a three-lane segment consisting of two through lanes and a center two-way left-turn lane. The resulting benefits include a crash reduction of 19 to 47 percent, reduced vehicle speed differential, improved mobility and access by all road users, and integration of the roadway into surrounding uses that results in an enhanced quality of life. A key feature of a Road Diet is that it allows reclaimed space to be allocated for other uses such as turn lanes, bus lanes, pedestrian refuge islands, bike lanes, sidewalks, bus shelters, parking, or landscaping. Four-lane undivided highways experience relatively high crash frequencies — especially as traffic volumes and turning movements increase over time — resulting in conflicts between high-speed through traffic, left-turning vehicles, and other road users. FHWA has deemed Road Diets a proven safety countermeasure and promotes them as a safety-focused design alternative to a traditional fourlane, undivided roadway.4
Travel Lane
Williamson Road Corridor Refer to Pages 20 - 21 indicating conceptual improvements along Williamson Road between Pocahontas Ave. and Thurston Ave.
Refer to Pages 8 - 13 indicating conceptual improvements along Williamson Road between Courtney Avenue and Bowman Street (Including Improvements at the Liberty Road Intersection).
Refer to Pages 14 - 19 indicating conceptual improvements along Williamson Road between 10th Street and Oakland Blvd.
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Williamson Road Improvements City of Roanoke
Courtney Ave. to Bowman Street
America Auto Sales
Alternate 1 Illustrations
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This conceptual design arrangement indicates the implementation of a road-diet scenario along Williamson Road. Additionally, there is a single-lane roundabout proposed at the intersection of Williamson Road and Liberty Road. 1
Single Lane Roundabout at Liberty
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Landscaped Median
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High Visibility Crosswalks
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Left-Hand Turn Lane
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New Sidewalks (Both Directions)
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Landscaped Buffer Strips
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Vehicular Travel Lanes
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Bicycle Lane
9
Mid-Block Crossing
W
y Rd. N Liber t
8
3
5
6
8
Bowman
New Yorker Deli
Virginia Auto
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Legends Sports Bar
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Quality Tire
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9
4
2
Rent-A-Center
2
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Inside Out
Porter’s Auto
Cundiff Motorcars
7
St. NW
.N llow Ave
o Spring H
U-Haul
Atomic Television
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Easyhome
8
6
5
o Spring H
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U-Haul
Atomic Television
.N llow Ave
W
y Rd. N Liber t
America Auto Sales
New Yorker Deli
Virginia Auto
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9 1
5
4 8
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Porter’s Auto
Cundiff Motorcars
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6
Easyhome
Rent-A-Center
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Williamson Road Improvements City of Roanoke
Bowman St. NW
Legends Sports Bar
Courtney Ave. to Bowman Street
Quality Tire
3
Alternate 2 Illustrations
2
“Alternate 2” is remarkably similar to Alternate 1 (shown on the previous pages). One specific difference is the sidewalk on the north side of the road has been changed to a shared use path. As a result, the bicycle lanes have been removed from the travel-way adjacent to the vehicles.
Inside Out
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11
8
Single Lane Roundabout at Liberty
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Landscaped Median
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High Visibility Crosswalks
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Left-Hand Turn Lane
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Standard Sidewalk
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Landscaped Buffer Strips
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Vehicular Travel Lanes
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Shared Use Path (10’ Wide)
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Mid Block Crossing
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Williamson Road Improvements City of Roanoke
Courtney Avenue to Bowman Street
Williamson Road Improvements City of Roanoke
NW 10th St.
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10th Street to Oakland Boulevard
Slot Car Mania
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Alternate 1 Illustrations This conceptual design arrangement indicates the implementation of a road-diet scenario along Williamson Road. Notable improvements include the landscaped median which alternates with left-hand turn lanes as well as high-visibility crosswalks at all pedestrian crossings. 1
Landscaped Median
2
High Visibility Crosswalks
3
Left-Hand Turn Lane
4
New Sidewalks (Both Directions)
5
Landscaped Buffer Strips
6
Vehicular Travel Lanes
7
Bicycle Lane
8
Mid-Block Crossing
Family Dollar
Noel C. Taylor Learning Academ at Oakland
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5
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Williamson Rd. Pharmacy
Oakland Blvd. NW
Fountain of Life
Cumberland St. NW
Huntington Blvd. NW
Burton Ave. NW
Mediterranean Cafe
Buddy’s Home Furnishings
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1
4
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Huntington Court United Methodist
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Aaron’s
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Fountain of Life
Williamson Rd. Pharmacy
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4
Family Dollar
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Noel C. Taylor Learning Academy at Oakland
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Huntington Court United Methodist
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3
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Cumberland St. NW
Mediterranean Cafe
Huntington Blvd. NW
Burton Ave. NW
NW 10th St.
Slot Car Mania
Buddy’ Furnis
Oakland Blvd. NW
Williamson Road Improvements City of Roanoke
’s Home shings
10th Street to Oakland Boulevard
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1
17
Alternate 2 Illustrations
Aaron’s
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7
“Alternate 2” is remarkably similar to Alternate 1 (shown on the previous pages). One specific difference is the sidewalk on the north edge of the road has been designed as a shared use path. As a result, the bicycle lanes have been removed from the travel-way adjacent to the vehicles. Landscaped Median
1
High Visibility Crosswalks
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Left-Hand Turn Lane
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New Sidewalk
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Landscaped Buffer Strips
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Vehicular Travel Lanes
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Shared Use Path
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Mid-Block Crossing
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Williamson Road Improvements City of Roanoke
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10th Street to Oakland Boulevard
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Williamson Road Improvements City of Roanoke
Pocahontas Ave. to Thurston Ave.
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Footnotes: 1 - Williamson Road Area Business Association website: https://www.wraba.org/purpose 2 - City of Roanoke, VA Street Design Guide 3 - VDOT Road Network System Crash Data for US Route 11 in the City of Roanoke 4 - US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Road Diet Information Guide 5 - APBP Webinar Series: Driving Deaths Down: Proven Countermeasures that Work | 2-20-13 https://www.cob.org/documents/pw/transportation/edgewater-road-diet-orlando-fl.pdf