Bicycle Facilities Master Plan

Thank you for your interest in the Pittsfield Bicycle Facilities Master Plan.

The goal of this project was to develop a Master Plan that lays out a vision for a comfortable, safe, and connected bicycle network that is accessible to people of all ages and abilities in the city, and where bicycling can become a viable transportation option that improves our quality of life. 

The development of this Master Plan was a collaborative process that included several stakeholder and public meetings. This website provides information about the project background, planning process, and analysis conducted. This website also contains interactive maps showing the final recommended bicycle network and a link to download the final Master Plan document. You can continue scrolling down to browse various sections of the website or navigate to specific sections using the control bar at the top of the page.

With this project, the City of Pittsfield has taken a significant step in its steadfast commitment to plan and implement a safe and accessible city-wide network for people who bike for various reasons to a range of destinations throughout Pittsfield.

The City started to design and implement bicycle facilities in the early 2000s with the redesign of North Street to include sharrows and dedicated bike lanes. This effort was followed by the reconstruction of Elm Street with dedicated bike lanes and sharrows. More recently, the City has adopted a Complete Streets policy and is currently redesigning Tyler Street to add bicycle facilities.

Through the adoption of the Complete Streets policy, the City successfully leveraged MassDOT’s Complete Streets program to prioritize projects and secure funding. The City is also working on extending the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail into the City of Pittsfield.

This Bicycle Facilities Master Plan allows the City’s to develop a long term city-wide vision for a bicycle network and grow beyond a 'one-street-at-a-time' planning approach.

The project team identified the following project goals and objectives:

Please download the existing conditions report below to learn more about the existing conditions analysis, public involvement efforts, and Bicycle Level of Traffic Stress Analysis (BLTS). The existing conditions analysis will ultimately serve to inform the recommendations in the city-wide bicycle facilities network.

This project involves several opportunities for the community to interact and provide feedback to help guide and direct the project. The Pittsfield Bicycle Facilities Master Plan could not be created without valuable feedback from Pittsfield's community.

In October 2020, we administered a survey to collect information on how residents, visitors, and employees are using the bicycle facilities in Pittsfield. The survey sought to understand where the community felt there are gaps in the network and what facilities would be appropriate in the future. The following attachment provides a summary of the survey responses.

The first public meeting was hosted on October 21, 2020 using Zoom. The meeting was broadcasted on the Pittsfield Community Television (PCTV) City Link channel and the City of Pittsfield's Facebook page.

This first public meeting's goal was to introduce the project and share the overall project goals, timeline, and process. The study team also shared the existing conditions analysis conducted to date.

You can download the meeting presentation slides here:

You can view the recording of the meeting here:

The second public meeting was hosted on March 3, 2021 using Zoom. The meeting was broadcasted live on the Pittsfield Community Television (PCTV) City Link channel.

The second public meeting's goal was to provide an update on the overall planning process as well as share the results of Bicycle Level of Traffic Stress (LTS) analysis, prioritization process, and the draft recommended bicycle network.

You can download the meeting presentation slides here:

You can view the recording of the meeting here:

The third and final public meeting was hosted on July 19, 2021 using Zoom. The meeting was broadcasted on the Pittsfield Community Television (PCTV) City Link channel.

The third public meeting's goal was to share the final recommended city-wide bicycle network and other content in the Master Plan such as design guidelines, recommended policies, and programs.

You can download the meeting presentation slides here:

You can view the recording of the meeting here:

The goal of planning and designing a low-stress bicycle facility network is to serve people of all ages and abilities to feel safe and comfortable riding bicycles throughout the city. Bicycle LTS analysis was conducted to identify existing low-stress and high-stress streets for bicycle riders in the City of Pittsfield.

The graphic below displays the results of several national surveys that asked respondents to self identify their level of comfort or confidence riding bicycles in four broad categories.

As per these surveys, most people fall into the 'interested but concerned' group, representing people who want to ride bicycles regularly but feel unsafe doing so due to a lack of comfortable bicycle infrastructure and lack of safe riding conditions. This group of individuals has a lower tolerance for stressful riding situations than the 'highly confident' group of people biking.

The four categories are summarized below:

• Non-bicycle: People who have no interest in riding a bicycle, no matter the bicycle infrastructure or traffic conditions.
• Interested but Concerned: People who prefer off-street or separated bicycle facilities or quiet residential streets. People who may not bike at all if bicycle facilities do not meet needs for perceived safety and comfort.
• Somewhat Confident: People who generally prefer more separated facilities, but are comfortable riding in bicycle lanes or paved shoulders if need be.
• Highly Confident: People who are comfortable riding alongside traffic and will bike on roads without bike lanes.

To target the goal of increasing overall bicycle ridership, a bicycle network needs to be planned and designed with facilities that are comfortable for the 'interested but concerned' group of riders.

Bicycle LTS analysis is an analytical method to evaluate a bicycle rider's stress while riding on a street. It is used to categorize streets by the type of riders willing to use them comfortably.

Bicycle LTS is calculated using a variety of roadway characteristics, displayed below:

Streets are categorized into four levels of traffic stress summarized below:

LTS 1 (Interested but Concerned): Most children and parents feel safe riding on these streets. Bicycle infrastructure is usually separated from vehicular traffic.

LTS 2 (Interested but Concerned): The majority of the 'interested but concerned' group feels comfortable riding on these streets and can accept some degree of stress. Streets generally have low vehicle volumes and speeds.

LTS 3 (Somewhat Confident): Riders can tolerate some stress, but may prefer to ride with a lower level of traffic stress. Streets likely have heavier traffic and higher vehicle speeds.

LTS 4 (Highly Confident): Streets tolerated only by 'highly confident' people who bike and who are comfortable riding in a mixed-traffic environment. Streets have high vehicle volumes and speeds and lack protected bicycle infrastructure.

The interactive map below displays the results from the existing conditions bicycle LTS analysis for the City of Pittsfield.

The map displays street segments categorized by LTS (LTS 1, 2, 3, and 4). The City's low-stress network consists of streets with LTS 1 and 2. Alternatively, the City's high-stress network is made up of streets categorized as LTS 3 and 4.

The interactive map also includes intersection LTS. Only high-stress intersections (LTS 3 and 4) are displayed on the map.

Traffic signals are also displayed on the map. Intersections with traffic signals are considered low-stress since they provide controlled crossings for people who bike and minimize potential conflict between biking and driving. However, targeted bicycle crossing improvements maybe necessary to make some signalized intersection truly low-stress.

Use the map below to turn LTS layers on and off, zoom in and out on specific streets and intersections to explore the City of Pittsfield's existing bicycle LTS.

Based on the existing conditions data, LTS analysis, and public feedback, the project team developed a point-based prioritization system to identify strategic corridors that will form the draft preliminary bicycle facilities network. The prioritization system will also help create a phasing plan for the implementation of the network over time. The methodology evaluated the land use, demographics, and existing transportation infrastructure on all streets in Pittsfield and determined high, medium, and low priority corridors. The methodology is detailed below:

The following interactive map displays the prioritized bicycle network. Additionally, the map shows the draft recommended bicycle facilities for each prioritized street. The draft bicycle network includes:

Trails

Shared Use Path

Separated/Buffered Bicycle Lanes

Conventional Bike Lanes

Neighborhood Bicycle Routes

The project team revised and finalized the recommended bicycle network based on the input received from the community members, stakeholders, and Project Advisory Committee. The Project team documented the planning process and proposed bicycle facility recommendations in the final Pittsfield Bicycle Facilities Master Plan document. The document will also include guidance on supporting amenities such as bicycle parking and maintenance stations, design guidelines, policy recommendations, and potential funding sources.

The proposed bicycle facility network is shown in the interactive map below. The recommended bicycle facility network includes proposed:

• Priority Corridors (High, Medium, Low)
• Recommended Bicycle Facility Corridors (by bicycle facility types)
• Short-Term Recommended Network Corridors (by bicycle facility type)
• Bicycle Maintenance Stations and Parking locations

Please download the final city-wide Bicycle Facilities Master Plan document by clicking the link below :

Please contact Cornelius J. (CJ) Hoss with questions or comments.

E-mail:  choss@cityofpittsfield.org 

Phone: 413-499-9366

Address: 70 Allen Street, Room 205, Pittsfield MA, 01201