Cheshire Slow Street Asphalt Art Project

Metroplan, in partnership with Creative Flagstaff and Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy (FALA), received our very first Bloomberg Asphalt Art Initiative Grant to support the Cheshire neighborhood by using art and design to make the main street safer for pedestrians and cyclists along N Fremont Blvd. This temporary demonstration project tests how art can improve safety by reducing vehicle speeds and shortening the crossing for pedestrians.  This project was initiated for and by the neighbors of Cheshire and is part of ArtX Flagstaff.  The artwork design was created by local artists and FALA art students, and voted on by the community.

The Asphalt Art Safety Study released in 2022 by Bloomberg Philanthropies in collaboration with Sam Schwartz Consulting shows considerable safety improvements across a cohort of 22 U.S. project sites after the art was incorporated into roadway designs. Results include: 50% drop in crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists, 37% drop in crashes with injuries, 27% increase in drivers yielding to pedestrians with right-of-way, and a 25% drop in the rate of conflicts between drivers and pedestrians