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Walkable streets
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Conventional street design focuses primarily on the expeditious and safe movement of automobiles. That single-minded focus is fading. Many transportation planners and engineers recognize the following:
• Mobility is not measured primarily by automobile movement.
• Streets must have character as well as capacity.
• Streets serve a vital social function.
• Streets should be highly interconnected.
Reform of state Departments of Transportation
Reform of DOTs, a key goal of new urbanists, appears to be underway in Pennsylvania and Texas.
Narrower, more connected streets coming to VA
But new urbanists may have muffed an opportunity to make the new standards even better.
‘Shared-space’ streets cross the Atlantic
Cities in the western and eastern US are starting to let motorists and pedestrians deal with one another more intuitively.
Tearing down interstate freeways
A handful of cities are looking at turning sections of interstate highway that plow through downtowns and neighborhoods be removed.
Freeways give way to boulevards — slowly
For every two successes, there seems to be one setback.
Cities redo streets for pedestrians, cyclists, transit
“Complete Streets” movement presses a growing number of cities to plan for multimodal transportation.
‘Context-sensitive design’ makes headway
Pedestrians and community concerns are increasingly influencing street and roadway design, but change runs into resistance.
Research
Key to safer roads is identified in California study
A review of fatalities in 24 cities shows that safety grows as street networks become denser.
A study by engineer Peter Swift and the City of Longmont, Colorado, finds that injury accidents increase exponentially with street width.
A comprehensive look at pedestrian danger in the US.
Trees make streets safer, not deadlier
Increasingly, transportation engineers' beliefs about safety are being found incorrect.
Transit oriented development reduces car trips
Researchers found that on a typical weekday, TOD projects produced 44 percent fewer vehicle trips. During rush hours, the reductions were even greater.
Mixed-use, walkable development alleviates traffic
New research could lead to more favorable regulatory treatment of projects that generate fewer car trips.
Study demonstrates roundabouts' safety
A study has determined that roundabouts — popular among some new urbanist designers — are much safer than other kinds of intersections:
• Vehicular accidents overall declined 39 percent.
• Accidents resulting in injuries fell 76 percent.
• Accidents resulting in death or incapacitating injury plunged 90 percent.
Narrower lanes, fewer accidents
Wide traffic lanes may make traveling more dangerous, rather than less.
Transformations
A remarkable transformation from a automobile-oriented arterial to a walkable and pedestrian friendly avenue.
Palm Canyon Drive, Cathedral City, CA
A redesign of the central section of the city’s most visible thoroughfare.
Wilson and Clarendon Boulevards
In Arlington, Virginia
Octavia Boulevard in San Francisco
The four-block thoroughfare, known as Octavia Boulevard, replaces a part of the Central Freeway that was damaged by the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989.
Redesign of suburban arterial in Bothell, WA
The City is moving forward with the redesign of a suburban arterial into a five-block section of mixed-use boulevard.
Conversion of a pair of high-speed one-way streets to slower two-way operation has proven a boon to the Historic Old Northeast neighborhood in St. Petersburg, Florida.
A plan to reclaim Franklin Street in Portland, ME. This was once a great street but it was widened and all its buildings knocked down to create an arterial.
Conversion of a limited access highway to a boulevard.
A plan to transform a 17-block section of Pratt Street
Got a street transformation project to add to the list? Send us an email: mail at newurbannews dot com
Resources
A video about why subtle differences in two sections of the same street have large implications for people on foot.
The return of the two-way street
Rather than wait for the $14 million more in state and federal money, Vancouver, Washington, opted for something much simpler. It painted yellow lines in the middle of the road, took down some signs and put up others, and installed some new traffic lights. In other words, it took a one-way street and opened it up to two-way traffic.
New York City street design manual
New York City has published its first Street Design Manual,
and it’s winning praise from urbanists.
Charlotte adopted Urban Street Design Guidelines to make walking, bicycling, and transit more appealing, and make the city more attractive and sustainable.
Some good links to studies
Photo from a 2003 presentation by transportation engineers
Rick Chellman, Rick Hall, and Peter Swift.
Queen Street in Toronto serves many
modes of transportation
New Urbanism: Best Practices Guide, 4th Ed.
The definitive reference for new urban ideas, practices, and projects. Special chapter on streets.
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