Happy Trails to You: Developing the Dallas Trail Safety and Awareness Campaign, presented by Jared White and Michael Hellmann at the 2012 Texas Trails and Active Transportation Conference in San Antonio, Texas, February 1-3.
Z Score,T Score, Percential Rank and Box Plot Graph
Happy Trails to You: Developing the Dallas Trail Safety and Awareness Campaign
1. Happy Trails to You!
Texas Trails & Active
Transportation Conference
February 2, 2012
Michael Hellmann Jared White, AICP
Manager, Park Planning and Acquisition Project Coordinator
City of Dallas City of Dallas
Park and Recreation Department Park and Recreation Department
2. City of Dallas Trail Network Master Plan
p Current Trail System
n Existing: 111 Miles
n Funded: 21 Miles
n Planned: 152 Miles
n Total: 284 Miles
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3. Trail Safety Initiatives
p As
trail usage has increased, so has the
need for emergency response and trail
etiquette awareness:
n Improper behavior
n Accidents and/or injuries
n Crimes
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5. Trail Emergency Locator System
p Addressing Trails
n Most of the major linear trails are in railway
and utility easements, with limited street
access
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6. Addressing Trails
p It
was proposed that unique 911 Pole
Markers be installed
n Problem:
p The 911 dispatch center uses a Computer Aided
Dispatching (CAD) system that also requires
addresses to which emergency apparatuses can
be sent
p It
was imperative that the 911 Pole
Markers:
n Could be seen from any location on the
trail
n Would be the same on every trail
throughout the network
n Could be purchased within current budget
allocations
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7. Addressing Trails
p The
solution was to find a way to assign
addresses to the Pole Markers
n Each trail would be given initials to specify
which trail
p Example: Katy Trail = KT
n Each pole marker would have an individual
number
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8. Addressing Trails
p Dallas Fire-Rescue
n Uses ArcGIS to plot the points along the trail
n Using ArcGIS georeferencing capabilities, DFR
adds lat/long coordinates to the attribute table
n Writes preliminary caution notes to go with
the points, to be verified once the poles were
in the ground
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10. Addressing Trails
p By assigning addresses to each pole, CAD
is able to dispatch to the coinciding
address when the pole number is entered
p Caution Notes are then added to each of
these linked dispatching coordinates
n The Caution Notes are transmitted to the
Mobile Data Computers (MDC) on the
emergency vehicles
n The Caution Notes supplies directions along the
trail to enable emergency crews to locate the
pole and thus locate the emergency
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11. Katy Trail Caution Notes
Post Access Point Caution
124 Harvard Ave Nothing larger than a rescue allowed
and head north on trail. Rescues enter at 3198
Harvard Ave, go NE 1.6 mile. Foot
access from alley west of trail. Alley
access at 3198 Harvard Ave. go NE.
Bollards must be removed and
returned at access point.
101 All Star Way Nothing larger than a rescue allowed
and head north on trail. Rescues enter the Katy Trail
from 2740 N Houston St. north of All
Star Way, go NW 1.4 mile. Bollards
must be removed and returned at
access point.
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12. Final Installation
p DFR
confirms the accuracy of the caution
notes
n Rewrites as necessary
n Enters data into CAD
p Testruns made to reduce confusion
p 911 signs attached to poles
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13. Prioritizing Trails
p Trails With Signs
n Katy Trail
n White Rock Lake Trail
n White Rock Creek Trail
n Bachman Lake Trail (underway)
p Trails Requiring Signs
n Cottonwood Creek Trail
n Kiest Park Trail
n Northaven Trail
n Preston Ridge Trail
n Santa Fe Trail
n Trinity Forest Trail
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14. Prioritizing Trails
p Ranking Criteria
n Remoteness/Visibility
n Volume of Use
n Access
Numerical score assigned based on
the trail’s degree of remoteness/
visibility, level of use, and
accessibility from the nearest
street(s).
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15. Next Steps
p Sign installation process underway for the
Bachman Lake Trail
p Install system on all existing major trails
p Work with adjacent cities which will have
trail connections
p Look at modifying this system to work in
large parks for identifying areas within the
park
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18. Trail Safety Initiatives
p In
response to increasing rates of
incidents a trail safety action plan was
developed.
n Immediate Action
n Intermediate Action
n On-Going and Long Term Action
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19. Trail Safety Initiatives
p Immediate Action – Items that have been
implemented or are in the process of implementation
n Increase police presence
n Implement trail/street crossing improvements
n Update trail safety guidelines
n Promote outreach activities
n Establish the Dallas Trail Safety Advisory
Committee
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20. Trail Safety Initiatives – Public Outreach
Park(ing) Day
September 16, 2011
Katy Trail Safety Awareness Drive
October 20, 2010
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21. Trail Safety Initiatives – TSAC
p Trail Safety Advisory Committee established
to develop consensus on appropriateness and
feasibility of various ideas on improving trail
safety
p Discussion topics include:
n Facility design standards
n User behavior and concerns
n Regulation and enforcement
n Pertinent City codes and ordinances
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22. Trail Safety Initiatives – TSAC
p Key stakeholder groups represented:
n Friends of the Katy Trail
n Friends of the Trinity Strand Trail
n Friends of the Preston Ridge Trail
n Friends of the Santa Fe Trail
n Friends of Kiest Trails
n Bike DFW
n Dallas Running Club
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23. Trail Safety Initiatives
p Intermediate Action – Items currently in the
planning phases, to be implemented in the near future
n Launch advertising campaign to promote
proper trail use and safety
n Implement consistent/standardized traffic control
and safety treatments at all operational trail/street
crossings
n Re-stripe faded striping as needed
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24. Happy Trails Program – New Trail Signs
p New sign types developed to convey trail
etiquette messages
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25. Happy Trails Program – New Trail Signs
p Nearly 100 “Happy Trail” signs installed on all
major trails with full installation now underway
p Bachman Lake Trail
p Cottonwood Creek Trail
p Katy Trail
p Kiest Park Trail
p Preston Ridge Trail
p Santa Fe Trail
p White Rock Lake Trail
p White Rock Creek Greenbelt Trail
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26. Trail Safety Initiatives – Happy Trails
p Launch a dynamic advertising campaign to
promote proper trail use and safety
Happy Trails to You!
“It’s the way you
ride the trail that
counts…”
happytrailsdallas.com
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27. Happy Trails Program – Social Media
facebook.com/DallasTrails
twitter.com/dallastrails
foursquare.com/dallastrails
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31. Trail Safety Initiatives
p On-Going and Long Term Action – Items with long
time horizons and/or requires significant budgetary
needs for complete implementation:
n Continue implementation of the Dallas Trail
Network Plan
n Continue implementation of the 911 locator sign
program for all major trails
n Begin implementation of the 2011 Dallas Bike Plan
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