Street Design
Streets are rarely seen as the public space they are and yet this is vital to the creation of streets that enrich communities and the world. The design of streets where people want to linger, laugh and connect is still seen as unusual, a special occurrence that is tolerated amidst the superhighways and thoroughfares that invite no one unless shielded within a motorized vehicle. One Street’s very name ensures that street design will always be a primary issue for us as we connect leaders of organizations who are working at the highest standards of delightful street designs that invite bicycling, walking, laughing and lingering.
Too often, transportation officials ignore the needs of vulnerable travelers. This article from January 2017 about a court decision that bad street design was liable in a New York City crash offers advocates an important lever for streets designed for people, not just cars.
This video takes you on a ride along a quite extraordinary street:
Creating great streets:
- Complete streets redefines road design
- DIY complete streets guide (Kansas City)
- Road diets are a common retrofit treatment
- Emotional mapping is a whole new way to look at street and community design
- Dutch design manual for bicycle traffic (CROW) - link to order
Accomodating cyclists at intersections:
- Junction design for safer cycling (Netherlands)
- Junction design the Dutch cycle friendly way
- Dutch junction design - for safer cyclists
- Video of a Dutch roundabout with priority for cyclists
- Video of a Dutch signalized intersection
- Intersection treatments as part of good road design
The U.S. is finally moving past basic bicycle provisions:
- NACTO design guides
- FHWA Bikeway Selection Guide 2019
- FHWA Guide intersection supplememt 2021
- FHWA Guide parking supplement 2021
- Presentation on the regretful process, including AASHTO
Some examples of progressive U.S. street design guidance:
- Los Angeles Model Street Design Manual (download and modify your own here)
- Designing for All Ages & Abilities: High-Comfort Bicycle Facilities
- New York City Street Design Manual and their Slow Zones
Lane width standards can often hamper good street design, so make sure to look at:
Bicycle boulevards are an innovative way to create bicycle networks with existing streets:
- Fundamentals of Bicycle Boulevard Planning & Design
- Bicycle Boulevards
- Berkeley’s Bicycle Boulevards Video ( 8 minutes)
Centerline removal may sound radical, but it's solving basic street issues in some communities:
- Centreline Removal slide show from Scotland, England and Switzerland - Tom Bertulis
- Wiltshire County, England Centreline Removal Study
- Advisory Lanes compilation and resources
These studies reveal an alarming relation between traffic volumes and social interactions within neighborhoods:
Source: www.OneStreet.org