According to the World Health Organization, road traffic injuries is
the 7th leading killer of people all over the world and is projected to
increase to the 5th leading killer by 2030. 1.2 million people are
killed every year in road or traffic accidents -- that’s almost the
entire population of New Hampshire killed in traffic accidents annually.
This has caused some concerns for politicians, activists, engineers,
and planners in Sweden and in 1997 their parliament approved a new
initiative called Vision Zero.
Vision Zero is an initiative
with an end goal of zero people being killed in traffic accidents. This
may be in car to car accidents, car to pedestrian accidents, or car to
bicycle accidents. In any case, zero people killed by accidents on
Swedish roads. This initiative uses a multi-pronged approach to achieve
it’s goal. First, it builds support with politicians, corporations, and
the general public to being looking at and demanding safer environments
for those using public roads. Secondly, it looks a vehicle design to
determine how cars can be designed better to withstand side and front
impacts as well as impacts with pedestrians and bicyclists. Third, it
recognizes that humans are not perfect and encourages engineers and
planners to create roadway systems that anticipate accidents and develop
roadway design solutions to minimize or eliminate the most deadly types
of accidents.
Traditionally, when design or redesign a
roadway system we focus on accidents, assume perfect human behavior, we
fault one person (the driver) for accidents, and we think that saving
lives can be too expensive. Vision Zero turns all of this upside down
and encourages us to focus on fatalities, assume humans are not perfect
and design for their imperfection, places fault for road deaths on
drivers, auto manufacturers, and roadway designers, and postulates that
saving lives should be cheap.
The data has proven the results
of this initiate to be drastic and it has been adopted all over Europe.
The United States is also being to look at this initiative with cities
like New York, San Francisco, Boston, Portland, and Seattle all
implementing this initiative.
While we don’t have high
occurrences of pedestrian or bicycle deaths here in Elizabethton,
everyone must play their part and be mindful of road safety for ALL
users of the roadway -- drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. The
multi-modal grant we just received is an effort to be proactive to
prevent accidents or even deaths as we work to become a more pedestrian
friendly community. It may not always be convenient to drivers, but
having multiple types of transportation provides many benefits to our
community and our citizens. Let’s talk about it!
Monday, June 22, 2015
Monday, June 15, 2015
Elizabethton Street Traffic is Looking Good
I had the opportunity to staff the City of Elizabethton booth at
the Covered Bridge festival this past weekend. It was great to hear all
of the ideas from everyone about ways to improve the city and to get
back in touch with the direction that our citizens want this community
to be moving in. A few of you made a comment about the amount of traffic
that we have seen in Elizabethton and how it seems to becoming more
congested in recent years. So, today, I want to talk a little about how a
both your local government and our state government look at traffic
congestion and determine when a road needs to be expanded.
Every so often, a Federal advisory committee called the Transportation Research Board produces a document called the Highway Capacity Manual. Transportation engineers and planners across the nation use this document in order to determine the capacities of certain highways and roads. Based on the capacities of the roads, a grading schedule called roadway level-of-service is calculated in order to determine how close to capacity a roadway is. Commonly all arterial and collector routes are then graded ‘A’ through ‘F’ as to how close to capacity they are with ‘F’ being the worst.
Believe it or not, Elizabethton’s road network is in pretty good shape! All of Elizabethton‘s minor arterial and collector networks (this would include roads like G Street, Parkway Boulevard, Southside Road, Bemberg Road, Siam Road, etc) with the exception of a portion of Milligan Highway from Okolona Road to Johnson City City Limits have either an A or B level-of-service. The section of Milligan Highway I previously referenced has a level-of-service of a C.
West Elk Avenue mostly has a B level-of-service with one D near the Milligan Highway intersection and a level-of-service of F between Pal’s and Summers-Taylor. This is the reasoning behind TDOT determining and making improvements in this section of the Elk Avenue corridor. The 19-E Bypass corridor is also good with a level-of-service of all Bs or Cs. As a planner, when a road changes to a D level-of-service we being to analyze the problem and look for long-term solutions to the problem. Once a roadway reaches a level-of-service of E, we begin to look at immediate solutions to prevent the level-of-service from deteriorating even more. When a road reaches an F level-of-service we bring in engineers to develop and construct solutions that can have immediate impact on the corridor. An F level-of-service means the roadway is close to capacity.
While roads in Elizabethton will continue to become busier as the city urbanizes, we must realize that Elizabethton is not as rural of a community as it once was and busy roads are a side effect. While it may seem busy at times, Elizabethton’s road network is far from needing major improvements such as by-pass roads. Let’s talk about it!
Every so often, a Federal advisory committee called the Transportation Research Board produces a document called the Highway Capacity Manual. Transportation engineers and planners across the nation use this document in order to determine the capacities of certain highways and roads. Based on the capacities of the roads, a grading schedule called roadway level-of-service is calculated in order to determine how close to capacity a roadway is. Commonly all arterial and collector routes are then graded ‘A’ through ‘F’ as to how close to capacity they are with ‘F’ being the worst.
Believe it or not, Elizabethton’s road network is in pretty good shape! All of Elizabethton‘s minor arterial and collector networks (this would include roads like G Street, Parkway Boulevard, Southside Road, Bemberg Road, Siam Road, etc) with the exception of a portion of Milligan Highway from Okolona Road to Johnson City City Limits have either an A or B level-of-service. The section of Milligan Highway I previously referenced has a level-of-service of a C.
West Elk Avenue mostly has a B level-of-service with one D near the Milligan Highway intersection and a level-of-service of F between Pal’s and Summers-Taylor. This is the reasoning behind TDOT determining and making improvements in this section of the Elk Avenue corridor. The 19-E Bypass corridor is also good with a level-of-service of all Bs or Cs. As a planner, when a road changes to a D level-of-service we being to analyze the problem and look for long-term solutions to the problem. Once a roadway reaches a level-of-service of E, we begin to look at immediate solutions to prevent the level-of-service from deteriorating even more. When a road reaches an F level-of-service we bring in engineers to develop and construct solutions that can have immediate impact on the corridor. An F level-of-service means the roadway is close to capacity.
While roads in Elizabethton will continue to become busier as the city urbanizes, we must realize that Elizabethton is not as rural of a community as it once was and busy roads are a side effect. While it may seem busy at times, Elizabethton’s road network is far from needing major improvements such as by-pass roads. Let’s talk about it!
Monday, June 8, 2015
Partnering with Google to Get Your Small Business Online
I am very excited to announce that the City of Elizabethton is
collaborating with Google’s Get Your Business Online program to help our
local small businesses build an online presence. According to the US
Small Business Administration, 97 percent of consumers search online for
products and services and if a small business is not there, it will be
skipped over. What’s more, is 91 percent of those consumers visited a
store because of an online experience. Your businesses may be missing
this market
This is where our partnership comes in! I have written before about the importance of being online and now we are moving in a direction to better help our small businesses achieve that goal. So many simple and free tools can help give you that online experience for little to no money each year. Facebook is a prime example. It’s free, provides a direct marketing path directly to your customers, and can contain hours, contact information, and pictures of your businesses.
Google Maps and Google+ is another great resource that allows your business to be found easily by anyone who uses Google searches or has an Android phone. Similar to Facebook, Google+ allows you to directly market your business to your customers as well as list business hours, contact information, and even post pictures of the inside of your business to familiarize customers.
An online presence becomes even more important when we talk about making Elizabethton and Carter County a tourist destination. Many people will be coming from out of town and out of state to visit. They will not know where to go to eat, shop, or find something to do and will likely turn to the internet to find these things. When they search for ‘Antique Stores’ or ‘Bakery’ will your small business show up? Are you open for dinner or breakfast? What kinds of events and excursions do you offer? All of these things can be communicated through free online resources with very little work on your part.
To help businesses get online and On The Map (as the slogan goes), the city has scheduled three workshops on June 16, 18, and 19 and will also have a booth setup at the Covered Bridge Festival this weekend. The whole process can take less than 10 minutes and will set you up for much business success. According to the Boston Consulting Group, businesses that are online are expected to grow 40 percent faster than those that are not. Is your business online? Let’s talk about it!
This is where our partnership comes in! I have written before about the importance of being online and now we are moving in a direction to better help our small businesses achieve that goal. So many simple and free tools can help give you that online experience for little to no money each year. Facebook is a prime example. It’s free, provides a direct marketing path directly to your customers, and can contain hours, contact information, and pictures of your businesses.
Google Maps and Google+ is another great resource that allows your business to be found easily by anyone who uses Google searches or has an Android phone. Similar to Facebook, Google+ allows you to directly market your business to your customers as well as list business hours, contact information, and even post pictures of the inside of your business to familiarize customers.
An online presence becomes even more important when we talk about making Elizabethton and Carter County a tourist destination. Many people will be coming from out of town and out of state to visit. They will not know where to go to eat, shop, or find something to do and will likely turn to the internet to find these things. When they search for ‘Antique Stores’ or ‘Bakery’ will your small business show up? Are you open for dinner or breakfast? What kinds of events and excursions do you offer? All of these things can be communicated through free online resources with very little work on your part.
To help businesses get online and On The Map (as the slogan goes), the city has scheduled three workshops on June 16, 18, and 19 and will also have a booth setup at the Covered Bridge Festival this weekend. The whole process can take less than 10 minutes and will set you up for much business success. According to the Boston Consulting Group, businesses that are online are expected to grow 40 percent faster than those that are not. Is your business online? Let’s talk about it!
Monday, June 1, 2015
Cities are the Generators of the Economy
We all know cities are the places to go to consume. In that role,
they play a vital role in ensuring our economy – local, state, and
national – keeps moving forward. Cities are the places to go shopping,
out to eat, participate in cultural events and festivals, and go to
work. Elizabethton is the generator of our local economy.
Elizabethton, while being in a rural setting, is a major driver in the local Carter County economy. Without it, Carter County would be much different and likely have a completely different economy. When we look at the numbers, there is little doubt of the impact and benefit that Elizabethton has on Carter County. Elizabethton’s population is only 25 percent of all of the County’s population, but it has jurisdiction over almost one-third (32 percent) of the property assessment in the entire county. This is an important figure indicating that approximately 32 percent of the property taxes collected by the County are within the Elizabethton City Limits.
Elizabethton is an important employment center for the County as well with approximately one of every four workers being employed in Elizabethton, and this does not include those who live within the City Limits. Elizabethton also is home to 29 percent of all of the businesses in the county and accounts for 83 percent of the retail sales in the county, giving us an indication that the most shopped businesses are in the city limits. Along similar lines, 81 percent of the spending on accommodation and food service sales in Carter County happens within Elizabethton. Elizabethton’s industry also accounts for over half (56 percent) of the manufacturers’ shipments value in the county meaning that over half of the products produced in Carter County originate in Elizabethton.
As you can see Elizabethton is a major driver of Carter County’s economy. Locally, we even have small communities such as Hampton and Roan Mountain that impact some of the economy like Elizabethton does. Now, don’t get me wrong, the County does provide services such as the County Detention Center, and the rural nature of the county provide agricultural benefits to Elizabethton as well. Nevertheless, with Elizabethton influencing our local economy so much, it is time for Carter County and Elizabethton to work together on a political and policy level. What is beneficial for Carter County IS beneficial for Elizabethton, and what is beneficial for Elizabethton IS beneficial for Carter County! Like each other or not, we all must work together for the benefit of our local economy. No one else is going to help us or do it for us! Let’s talk about it!
Elizabethton, while being in a rural setting, is a major driver in the local Carter County economy. Without it, Carter County would be much different and likely have a completely different economy. When we look at the numbers, there is little doubt of the impact and benefit that Elizabethton has on Carter County. Elizabethton’s population is only 25 percent of all of the County’s population, but it has jurisdiction over almost one-third (32 percent) of the property assessment in the entire county. This is an important figure indicating that approximately 32 percent of the property taxes collected by the County are within the Elizabethton City Limits.
Elizabethton is an important employment center for the County as well with approximately one of every four workers being employed in Elizabethton, and this does not include those who live within the City Limits. Elizabethton also is home to 29 percent of all of the businesses in the county and accounts for 83 percent of the retail sales in the county, giving us an indication that the most shopped businesses are in the city limits. Along similar lines, 81 percent of the spending on accommodation and food service sales in Carter County happens within Elizabethton. Elizabethton’s industry also accounts for over half (56 percent) of the manufacturers’ shipments value in the county meaning that over half of the products produced in Carter County originate in Elizabethton.
As you can see Elizabethton is a major driver of Carter County’s economy. Locally, we even have small communities such as Hampton and Roan Mountain that impact some of the economy like Elizabethton does. Now, don’t get me wrong, the County does provide services such as the County Detention Center, and the rural nature of the county provide agricultural benefits to Elizabethton as well. Nevertheless, with Elizabethton influencing our local economy so much, it is time for Carter County and Elizabethton to work together on a political and policy level. What is beneficial for Carter County IS beneficial for Elizabethton, and what is beneficial for Elizabethton IS beneficial for Carter County! Like each other or not, we all must work together for the benefit of our local economy. No one else is going to help us or do it for us! Let’s talk about it!
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