Casey Arborway - northwestern end up close

The final plans for the Casey Arborway's northwest section:

(I urge all viewers to click for a larger version of this detailed image)

This western portion of the Casey Arborway runs from South Street to the Forest Hills Gate of the Arboretum. The Upper Arborway frontage road will be relocated approximately 30-40' to the north to create more queue space on southbound South Street at the Arborway traffic light. "Don't Block the Box" striping will help make entrance and exit to/from the Upper Arborway easier than now. A new retaining wall will be built between the Upper Arborway and the main Arborway at Hampstead Rd because the new main Arborway grade will be 3 or 4 feet lower than the Upper Arborway. A new sidewalk on the north side of the Arborway between South Street and the Forest Hills Gate (on the Arborway side of the new retaining wall) will lead to a new pedestrian-activated crosswalk with a safety island in the median, and a zig-zag path through the median to indicate caution. There will also be a new on-street bike lane and eight trees along the north side.

West/Northbound main Arborway vehicle traffic will not be allowed to turn left/south at South Street, and will instead need to make a U-turn at the so-called "western bow-tie" by the Arboretum's Forest Hills Gate. Westbound car traffic will only stop here for pedestrians, but eastbound traffic will stop to accommodate these U-turns. There will be a tree-lined median in the center. A new "turning apron" at the Gate will allow larger vehicles to make wide turns here, with stout posts protecting pedestrians and cyclists from U-turning vehicles.

The south side along the Arboretum wall will have a two-way off-street bike path separated from the sidewalk by a grass strip. Both are separated from Arborway vehicle traffic by new trees. Southbound turning traffic at South Street from the eastbound Arborway will have a dedicated turn lane, with pedestrian refuge in a new island. Bike crosswalks are green, pedestrian ones are white ladder-style striping. Sidewalk "mixing areas" where bikes and pedestrians come together will have special pavers indicating a surface change at intersections with colored stripes or pavers indicating the direction of continuation of the bike path for cyclists.

Solid green circles = new trees
hollow circles = existing trees
blue = off-street bike paths
tan = sidewalks
pink = "mixing zones" for bikes and pedestrians
small black circles = period-design street lights
thin black lines at intersection = traffic light masts

The central portion of the new Casey Arborway is examined in detail here:
 http://arborwaymatters.blogspot.com/2015/01/casey-arborway-central-section-up-close.html

For a look at the eastern end of the project, click here:
http://arborwaymatters.blogspot.com/2015/01/casey-arborway-eastern-section-up-close.html

The southern portion of the Casey Arborway project area is detailed here:
http://arborwaymatters.blogspot.com/2015/01/casey-arborway-closer-look-at-southern.html