Dan Allen Gates
On Friday, November 11, 2022, an NC State student riding a bicycle was struck by a Wolfline bus around 4:00 PM. The accident took place at the corner of Dan Allen Dr. and Yarborough Dr, and the cyclist was taken to WakeMed where he was treated for his injuries. As of the latest update (Saturday morning), the student is still at the hospital but is awake and fully conscious. For those of us that do not know, Yarborough and Dan Allen meet just North of the gates that block Dan Allen from public traffic from 9-5 on days that NCSU classes meet. The accident took place during this time.According to information on the NCSU website, Technician, and other news websites, the gates were constructed in late 2012 and restricted access to Wolfline busses, university vehicles, and emergency vehicles. Prior to their construction, heavy vehicle and pedestrian traffic in the area caused constant gridlock. There were safety concerns because of the relationships between college students on foot and their relaxed view of pedestrian safety and right-of-way on campus streets. The stated goal of the project was to reduce on-campus traffic, improve pedestrian safety, and keep Wolfline buses on schedule. Another deciding factor in the construction of the restricted access gates on Dan Allen could have been the collision between a student driver and a student cyclist at the intersection. While the reports are unspecific, the description of the intersection given in news articles matches Dan Allen.However, if this was the case, the new Dan Allen gates did not help bicycle safety on the road. By ignoring the needs of bicyclists and treating them either as subsets of pedestrians or vehicles, the designers created more dangers for cyclists. As we have mentioned in class, people riding bicycles are unable to fit through the small gap between the end of the gates and the curb. Because of this, they are forced to move onto the sidewalk. This is very difficult, especially when cyclists are speeding downhill approaching the intersection from the Hillsboro Street side of Dan Allen. More problems are created when considering how cyclists merge back onto the road. There is no guidance for switching between sidewalk and asphalt, so many users merge at will. This creates further safety concerns. A conflict between buses and cyclists is also created by the limited-access status of the gates. Both cyclists and bus drivers are not used to sharing the road at the intersections on Dan Allen before and after the gates (at Yarborough Dr. and Thurman Dr.) Both cyclists and drivers become ignorant of hazards that they are not used to. This could have been a contributing factor in the bicycle-bus collision on Friday. While the gates on Dan Allen Dr. have served their purpose of improving gridlock, Wolfline reliability, and pedestrian safety (not including cyclists), it is obvious that they have created safety issues for cyclists. Action needs to be taken in order to improve the infrastructure to meet the needs of bicyclists traversing those intersections.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F77EiMa6ARMo-Ge6qGsr62l28A9zmmlodsXngxjzrLw/edit?usp=sharing
https://news.ncsu.edu/2013/01/gates-3/
https://news.ncsu.edu/2013/01/traffic/
https://myfox8.com/news/nc-state-student-charged-with-dwi-after-crash-with-bicycle/
https://www.wral.com/nc-state-plans-to-gate-busy-street-through-campus/11240839/
- Categories: