A joint state and local grant application to improve pedestrian and bike safety in Gainesville has been awarded to the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT).
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced that the FDOT will oversee the Bicycle-Pedestrian Safety Project, which is a joint effort between FDOT, the City of Gainesville and the University of Florida (UF). The project includes a $1 million matching grant to test pedestrian and bicyclist safety applications at signalized intersections and mid-block crosswalks using connected vehicle and connected infrastructure technology. The total amount of this project is estimated at $2.4 million, and includes FDOT research and internal support.
“This is but one of many partnerships the City, State and UF are working on together,” said Gainesville City Manager Anthony Lyons. “This project demonstrates our commitment as one community to increase safety for our residents and to promote new technologies available to help us improve on our robust transit services.”
The grant will allow the partners to deploy and test technologies to show real-time traffic information to pedestrians, bicyclists and transit vehicles (i.e. city buses) through personal communication devices such as smart phones and on board /on vehicle technology, Lyons added.
Project corridors are located on four sides of the UF campus: University Avenue, US441/13th Street, Museum Road and Gale Lemerand Drive and include 20 pedestrian crossing locations (13 signalized and seven mid-block). These corridors are where hardware will be installed to talk to mobile apps and on board /on vehicle technology to alert pedestrians and bicyclists of safety alerts and information.
