Complete Streets

What are Complete Streets?

According to Smart Growth America, complete streets are “designed and operated to prioritize safety, comfort, and access to destinations for all people who use the street, especially people who have experienced systemic underinvestment or whose needs have not been met through a traditional transportation approach, including older adults, people living with disabilities, people who cannot afford or do not have access to a car, and Black, Native, and Hispanic or Latino/a/x communities. Complete Streets make it easy to cross the street, walk to shops, jobs, and schools, bicycle to work, and move actively with assistive devices. They allow buses to run on time and make it safe for people to walk or move actively to and from train stations.”

Equitable Infrastructure for All

Cities need to be investing in transit and road infrastructure that accommodates all types of users, especially for those within the disability community. Streets and roads are to be designed for people, not solely for the automobile. What does this look like?

Raised Crosswalks

According to the Federal Highway Administration, a raised crosswalk reduces the chance of pedestrian crashes by 45%. Raised crosswalks are an excellent traffic calming measure because they prioritize pedestrian safety and comfort. The crosswalk is level with the sidewalk making it clear the the vehicle is entering into pedestrian space while also eliminating the need for an ADA ramp. The bump naturally reduces the speed of the vehicle allowing for a greater opportunity for a driver to notice and stop for a pedestrian crossing the street. Bonus points for raised intersections in pedestrian heavy areas!

curb ramps & bulb-outs

According to ADA.gov, “A curb ramp is a short ramp cutting through a curb or built up to it. A curb ramp provides an accessible route that people with disabilities can use to safely transition from a roadway to a curbed sidewalk and vice versa. It is often difficult or impossible for a person using a wheelchair, scooter, walker, or other mobility device to cross a street if the sidewalk on either side of the street ends without a curb ramp. It is also dangerous. If curb ramps are not provided, these individuals are forced to make a difficult choice. They can either stay at home and not go to their chosen destination, or they can risk their personal safety by using their wheelchairs, scooters, or walkers to travel alongside cars and other vehicles in the streets. This is a choice that people with disabilities should not be required to make.” A bulb-out is a redesign of traditional street corners to favor pedestrians by creating a safer space for pedestrians to wait in before crossing the street. The bulb-out extends out into the road which helps place pedestrians in direct line of sight with drivers. The extension narrows the road at the crosswalks which not only allows a easier, shorter, crossing for pedestrians but also naturally decreases vehicle speed.

Wide Sidewalks

Well designed sidewalks are an important component of city infrastructure that often gets overlooked. Most sidewalks are elevated up from car level in order to provide space for pedestrians to travel safely down the street. According to NACTO, “Sidewalks are public spaces that serve as the front steps to the city, activating streets socially and economically. Safe, accessible, and well-maintained sidewalks are a fundamental and necessary investment for cities, and have been found to enhance general public health and maximize social capital. Just as roadway expansions and improvements have historically enhanced travel for motorists, superior sidewalk design can encourage walking by making it more attractive.”

1. Frontage Zone

Section of the sidewalk that functions as an extension of the building. Whether through entryways and doors or sidewalk cafes and sandwich boards. The Frontage Zone consists of both the structure and the façade of the building fronting the street. As well as the space immediately adjacent to the building.

2. Pedestrian Through Zone

The primary accessible pathway that runs parallel to the street. The Through Zone ensures that pedestrians have a safe and adequate place to walk in residential downtown or commercial areas.

3. Street Furniture/Curb Zone

Sections of the sidewalk between the curb and the Through Zone in which street furniture an amenities, such as lighting, benches, newspaper kiosks, utility poles, tree pits, and bicycle parking are provided. The Street Furniture Zone may also consist of green infrastructure elements such as rain gardens or flow-through planters.

4. Enhancement/Buffer Zone

The Enhancement/Buffer Zone is the space immediately next to the sidewalk that may consist of a variety of elements, these include curb extensions, parklets, stormwater management features, parking, bike racks, bike share stations, and curbside bike lanes or cycle tracks.

Integrated Bus & public transit Network

A robust public transit network within your city can make a huge difference in equitable mobility. Many people According to the US Census Bureau, nearly 7.8 million Americans rely on public transportation of some type when going to work. Making public transit safe, reliable, efficient and clean has been shown to increases ridership and every person that chooses to travel by public transport is one less car that you need to sit behind in traffic. Public transit systems are designed to maximize efficiency by moving a large amount of people using minimal road space. Individuals in their cars take up a lot of road space for just one person, which in large part creates traffic congestion. Consider the image below.

Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety

Those who wish to travel to their destination by foot, bike, or by other micro transit means, deserve the right to ease and safety as much as cars do. Large sidewalks effectively separate pedestrians from other vehicular traffic. Similarly, protected bike lanes give bicyclists ample space to travel the street in relative safety from cars. Cars have long dominated the street space which has resulted in a large disrespect for bike lanes that have simply been painted along the road way. Where cars can go, they will go. A protected bike lane creates a physical barrier between the cycle path and cars, thus disentangling the the two modes of transportation. A person using the sidewalk or choosing to traveling by bike deserves to feel confident that they will arrive at their destination safely. It’s also important that cities choose to prioritize efficiency between these other “non-car” corridors by maximizing their connections, that is, establishing shortcut routes where cars cannot travel.

Street Trees

Not only do street trees add fantastic street aesthetic, they are also highly useful for a city as an investment. Cities tend to suffer from the urban heat island affect, basically cities are warmer than the surrounding rural areas. Street trees help cool down cities by providing shade and absorbing the sun’s rays. The shade they provide is especially useful when pedestrians are walking down the sidewalk as it protects them from the heat of the sun and other weather elements. Street trees also assist in flood control by acting like a sponge and soaking up rain water. Cities should invest in street trees because of the amazing health benefits too. Street trees scrub the air of pollutants and toxins left behind by cars and diesel engines allowing residents to breathe easy and reduce the risk of asthma. Lastly, street trees curb noise pollution and tend to slow down neighborhood traffic making our neighborhoods a much more pleasant place to walk around in.

Chicanes, Speed Bumps, and Lane Narrowing

Chicanes, speed bumps, and lane narrowing are all tools traffic engineers use to slow down traffic and create a more pleasant atmosphere for people to travel in outside of a car. Traditionally, streets and roads have been engineered to allow the shortest amount of travel time by car between two destinations. This led to highly unsafe road and street conditions for everyone else not traveling by car. A chicane is something that forces the driver to slow down and make a sharp turn. By placing several chicanes next to each other the driver doesn’t have time to gain a great amount of speed, effectively controlling how fast a vehicle can travel on certain streets. Speed bumps similarly assist in speed control by forcing the driver to slow down lest they have a large jolt! Many neighborhoods and fire chiefs oppose neighborhood speed bumps because they add the time it takes an emergency vehicle to reach it’s destination. Fortunately, there are innovate solutions like cutting out two spaces within the bump to allow the emergency vehicles wheels to pass through unhindered. Speed bumps can be an effective tool in curbing speeders but should always be placed with consideration. Lane narrowing can take many forms. It can be as simple as moving the white striped line further from the sidewalk or it can be a complete overhaul of a street that adds physical barriers like planters and sidewalks on the side. Both of these tactics cause the drivers field of vision to narrow, creating a sort of tunnel affect, which subconsciously makes the driver reduce their speed. A smaller lane means less space to veer which helps reduce distracted driving as well.