Safer St. Claude - New Orleans Complete Streets Coalition

INTRODUCTION

Linking seven historic New Orleans neighborhoods, and home to dozens of restaurants, venues, galleries, schools, medical facilities, and community-serving businesses, St. Claude Avenue provides a key connection for people and freight for the whole region. A portion of the corridor is also a designated Louisiana Main Street. One of the city’s most vital corridors, it is also one of the most dangerous and unwelcoming for people biking and walking, even though many who travel through this area lack access to a vehicle.

The New Orleans Complete Streets Coalition calls for improved safety and accessibility for walking and biking along the St. Claude Avenue corridor in New Orleans, bringing St. Claude in line with the City’s best practices as laid out in the City’s Complete Streets Policy. With the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the funding available for active transportation, such as walking, biking, and rolling, has never been greater.

BACKGROUND

St. Claude Avenue plays a vital role in regional multimodal access and connectivity for thousands of New Orleanians and visitors. Over 10,000 people live in the census tracts adjacent to St. Claude Avenue (see left). Of these, 23% of households in the St Claude corridor lack access to a vehicle, compared to 18% citywide.

This means more people rely on walking, bicycling, and transit to get around. However, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were nine fatal traffic crashes on St. Claude from 2017 – 2021 alone.

Because of lack of connectivity due to boundaries created by the railway and the industrial canal, St. Claude is the only direct option for people traveling to many destinations to and from the Ninth Ward.

MULTIMODAL TRAFFIC COUNTS

UNOTI has conducted short counts of walking and bicycling activity on St. Claude since 2010, finding robust volumes of both, and particularly rapid growth in bicycling in the first several years after the bike lane was completed. User counts dropped during the pandemic, but are now increasing again, with an estimated 341 bicyclists per day in 2023.

Total motor vehicle counts on St. Claude Avenue range from 18,000 near the St. Bernard Parish line to 23,000 near Elysian Fields Avenue.* The corridor is also a designated truck route, with significant heavy vehicle traffic. It also carries one of the busiest bus routes in the city (8 – St Claude) with over 12,000 daily riders**

Manual count observations indicate that most people walk on the sidewalk, and bike in the correct direction in the bike lane as intended. However, a disproportionate share of male bicyclists, a lack of children observed bicycling, and notable share of bicyclists riding on the sidewalk indicates likely perceptions that the bike lane isn’t entirely safe or comfortable for all users.

For additional information about data and underlying assumptions and limitations, see Methods Notes.

*DATA SOURCE: HTTPS://LADOTD.PUBLIC.MS2SOFT.COM/TCDS/TSEARCH.ASP?LOC=LADOTD

**DATA SOURCE: NEW LINKS COMPREHENSIVE OPERATIONS ANALYSIS, 2019

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION DEMAND

According to the U.S. Census, nearly 20% of workers in the neighborhoods around St Claude commute to work by walking (8%), bicycling (8%), or transit (3%) – well above the citywide average. With few corridors connecting across both the railroad tracks and the industrial canal, St. Claude Avenue is a critical spine for these commuters.

In addition to observed, current demand, the St. Claude corridor also has significant latent demand, with exceptionally large numbers of short-distance trips taken to destinations in the immediate vicinity of the corridor (indicated at right in darker colors) which could be readily achieved by walking or bicycling. In order to encourage such trips, however, the street (and surrounding network) must be safe, and accessible.

According to the City’s Accessibility Dashboard, there are 94 intersections along the corridor. Of these, 62% are fully ADA compliant, while another 31% are partially ADA compliant. This is a strong foundation for fostering a walkable main street! However, accessibility means more than just compliance: it also requires safe crossings and comfortable facilities for users of all ages and abilities.

MAIN STREETS, GREEN STREETS

As the spine of several downtown neighborhoods and as a historic Main Street, St. Claude Avenue serves a diverse range of users and uses. However, it’s also a corridor subject to frequent flooding, and areas of excessive urban heat island effect. Among neighborhoods adjacent to the corridor, only the 7th ward and Lower 9th ward exceed 10% tree canopy coverage. Planting trees, installing green infrastructure, and reducing impervious surface can help improve conditions for all who work, live, or play on or near St. Claude Avenue. The corridor is highlighted as a “key corridor for consideration” in the New Orleans Reforestation Plan.

ONGOING SAFETY CONCERN - BIKE LANE BLOCKAGE

While a standard bike lane exists currently on St. Claude Avenue, it offers no protection from opening cars doors in the path of people biking, and is frequently blocked by cars parked illegally in the bicycle lane, creating a daunting and unsafe situation for people biking through the corridor.