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.
Watch this video from Paris for many innovative ideas for reshaping streets to welcome all users:
This video shows London's Do-It-Yourself program with neighborhood residents creating the streets they want:
And this video takes you on a ride along a quite extraordinary street:
Concepts for creating great streets:
- Complete streets is a new concept for road design
- Complete Streets: It's About More Than Bike Lanes (video)
- Road diets are a common retrofit treatment
- Emotional mapping is a whole new way to look at street and community design
- Video of Copenhagen cycle policy in action
- 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
In the U.S., the very basic bicycle provisions are covered fairly well in:
For more progressive U.S. guidance on streets for people, spend some time with:
- Los Angeles Model Street Design Manual (download and modify your own here)
- New York City Street Design Manual and their Slow Zones
- New York City's current street projects (includes great slide shows!)
- Two videos showing the process and astonishing results from the NYC Manual:
San Francisco has also taken bold steps toward giving their streets back to people through their Pavement to Parks program. This video offers street-side insight on the program's incredible success:
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