Making Active Transportation more Accessible on the Dalhousie Studley Campus: A Traffic Demand Analysis of LeMarchant Street and University Avenue

Abstract

This research examines the current use of the University Avenue and LeMarchant Street intersection on the Dalhousie University Studley Campus. The current use by transportation type was determined through physical counts of pedestrians, cars, and cyclists at three different time intervals throughout Monday-Friday from 7-9 am, 11am-1pm, and 4-6 pm. Pedestrians were found to be the most common form of transportation in the intersection during all time slots and days using Single-Factor ANOVA by a highly significant amount (Table 3). The highest demand of traffic in the intersections was found to be during the middle time slot from 11am-1pm. Since this intersection is right in the center of the Studley campus and is a hotspot for pedestrian activity, it poses a safety risk to have the intersection available for use by all forms of transportation. We recommend that the Halifax Regional Municipality close LeMarchant Street from Coburg Road to South Street to vehicular traffic (excluding buses and bicycles) during the work week of Monday-Friday from 8am-5pm. With such high concentration of pedestrian activity, it increases the idle time of vehicles in the intersection, stops the flow of traffic, increases the potential for collisions, and discourages people from using active forms of transportation to an even greater extent due to the safety risks. We also recommend that there be better signage and marking in the intersection, primarily a marked pedestrian crosswalk with signals for pedestrians to cross and to alert drivers that there are pedestrians crossing.