Less pretty, more functional please

Public Spaces

by Douglas Stewart • October 20, 2009 1:52 pm

Don't let the pretty bricks fool you. This crosswalk in downtown Vienna is no fun if you have to walk on it. Wide curb radii make it much more difficult to cross because a) they lengthen the walking distance, and b) motorists are encouraged to take turns without stopping or looking for pedestrians.

For years Vienna and Fairfax have been trying to revitalize their downtowns and make them more walkable and bicycle-friendly. But there's a big disconnect with conventional traffic engineering wisdom. Getting more automobiles through the road faster trumps everything. Traffic calming measures such as squaring off intersections get in the way of this engineering priority.

One issue is institutional. VDOT controls the roads in Fairfax County.The agency is not accountable to local communities. Local control over roads could lead to more flexible, pedestrian-friendly designs. Although pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly design of Routes 7 and 123 will be critical to making Tysons Corner work as a transit-oriented community, VDOT shows little sign of flexibility in its auto-focused approach. This is one reason Fairfax County is looking into taking control of its roads.

But that's not the only issue. Even county and local transportation divisions tend to narrowly focus on automobile "throughput." Engineers are trained to move cars efficiently. Pedestrian and bicycle-oriented features are not familiar concepts to many traffic engineers. Local elected officials hear complaints about traffic all the time, and usually it is from a "windshield perspective." So they, too, are often pressured to look for short-term, auto-oriented solutions rather than a more balanced approach.

In addition, often our elected leaders themselves have a windshield perspective. It can help to take them on walks and bicycle rides to broaden their perspective.

Until a better balance is struck between the needs of pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and motorists, Vienna, Fairfax and other communities will not be able to attract a critical mass of people to revitalize their downtowns. One good step would be for VDOT and local transportation divisions to train all their engineering staff in the Complete Streets approach to street design.

14 comments — Share	— tags: Fairfax, VDOT, Vienna, Virginia, walkability

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Comments

Closing roads also does a lot to hurt connectivity and cut off neighborhoods. Fairfax also now has a lot of extraneous parking now that the new parking deck has been built. Its time for a lot of that to be converted into something more useful. Both Fairfax and Vienna show the beginnings of what could make great towns but it seems like for every step forward there are two steps back.

by Canaan Merchant on Oct 20, 2009 3:08 pm

There are two relevant illustrations on http://www.dupontcircle.biz/pedestrian.htm, showing the differences between tight and wide curb radii (I made these, years ago).

by Michael on Oct 20, 2009 5:01 pm

Complete streets should also include refuge islands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refuge_island

They are not so much handy as refuge islands, but they do force cars to swerve less.

http://www.gratisrijbewijsonline.be/afbeeldingenforum/rotonde5.JPG
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/4193/afbeelding063yw7.jpg

by Jasper on Oct 20, 2009 5:15 pm

Refuge islands would be nice to have in some areas. For one, they'd also cut down on those drivers who feel they need to be in such a hurry that they'll use the center turn lane to pass traffic in front of them...something I see *ALL THE TIME* on Suitland Rd.

As for tight curb radii, while they do shorten the distance pedestrians have to walk, there's one other and thus-far-unmentioned consideration that needs to be made: trucks. If a given intersection has a lot of truck traffic, and in particular a lot of turning truck traffic, you may need to keep those wider curb radii so that the trucks aren't constantly jumping the curb when they make their turns.

by Froggie on Oct 20, 2009 6:50 pm

Thanks Michael and Jasper, those sources are helpful.

Trucks and buses -- this is indeed what I hear from our transportation director whenever I bring up curb radii. Are squared off intersections just part of older streets that didn't have modern standards (thank goodness) when they were built? Are other localities/states trying to change their public facilities or other design standards to allow tighter radii in more urban, pedestrian-oriented areas?

by Douglas Stewart on Oct 20, 2009 7:48 pm

@ Froggie: That truck argument is the biggest phantom argument I know of. "What about trucks and buses?". It sounds so reasonable. And you can even come up with decently looking numbers, and well, then it must be true. It even is in some cases. The problem is that there are actually fairly few intersections, especially here in suburbia, that handle a lot of trucks and buses.

We should not endanger the lives of many pedestrians and bikers for the three trucks that pass through an intersection a week. They can pull a wheel over the side-walk.

In all seriousness, this is why a lot of roundabouts have a 'tilted side'. Very uncomfortable to drive over in a car, but the back wheels of a truck or bus barely notice.

http://www.bte.nl/beheer/uploads/pics/rotonde1.jpg
http://www.autorij-instructie.nl/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/rotonde.bmp

On top of that, I see more and more "truck free" zones in Europe. Tiny villages just refuse entry to trucks, except local destiny traffic.

http://www.mobielvlaanderen.be/figs/convenants/MOB9150F02.jpg

Driving in a truck in such places, you better have a local delivery address at hand when stopped by the police.

BTW: Check this pic out: http://www.mobielvlaanderen.be/figs/convenants/MOB9100F01.jpg (I am not sure whether the truck is stuck or not - the site talks about the unwanted increase in shortcut traffic due to navigation systems).

by Jasper on Oct 20, 2009 10:39 pm

To continue on about trucks: in Maryland it is only legal to restrict trucks up to a specific gross vehicle weight, and local deliveries are always excluded. In addition to trucks, one must also consider school buses, transit vehicles (possibly articulated), fire engines, moving trucks, recreational vehicles, garbage trucks, vehicles towing trailers, etc... Until the law changes, executive agencies have their hands bound & are obligated to provide.

Granted, there are also numerous situations where curb radii could be reduced at least somewhat. I'm aware of a couple locations which propose to have aprons along the radii (just like the center island of roundabouts), but I have yet to get clarification on how it might accommodate ADA. Bear in mind that pedestrian ramps take heed of slopes, proximity of pushbuttons, sight lines, etc. -- potentially complicated (but not inherently infeasible) by truck aprons.

...And reducing radii but providing truck aprons whilst also providing ADA might ultimately negate the intent, especially if the pushbuttons still end up behind the aprons (as they surely would; probably best not to replace the poles each time a truck makes a turn). Can't say for sure: I have yet to see anything on plansheet or in practice.

by Bossi on Oct 20, 2009 11:19 pm

Based on the title of the article and the picture, I thought this would actually be about the current trend to leave the road as asphalt and make the crosswalk brick or some other material. Turns out, this sucks for strollers and wheelchairs, and ADA groups are fighting them.

In Boston, Kenmore square was recently remade. The crosswalks were left as asphalt and everything else was made light brick... so you get the contrast in color, but smoothness for the wheelchair. As another benefit, cars move slower because theyre on bumpy ground longer.

You cans ee what Im talking about here
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y17/jamesinclair/IMG_2899.jpg

by J on Oct 21, 2009 12:33 am

Yep, brick is generally considered to be from an ADA standpoint, and a particular hassle to maintain. One additional option are thermoplastic brick pattern markings. Off the top of my head, I recall there being some in Laurel; but I'm pretty sure there are a number of other cases in the area:

Image:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2008_03_20_-_Whiskey_Bottom_Rd_@_All_Saints_Rd_-_Roundabout_1.JPG

Google Maps / StreetView:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Laurel,+MD&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Laurel,+Prince+George%27s,+Maryland&ll=39.124545,-76.842761&spn=0.000735,0.002001&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=39.124545,-76.842761&panoid=r8KClkbVzWWOBC_-F3K7vA&cbp=11,356.11,,0,34.92

by Bossi on Oct 21, 2009 12:51 am

Oh, and while we're on the subject of traffic flow, please make bus bays that are out of the main lanes of traffic, especially on routes with a lot of buses. I was unfortunately forced to drive up Columbia Pike this morning, and the thing is a mess. At intersections, the left lane won't go because someone wants to make a left turn, and between intersections the right lane won't move because buses stop there. It is insane.

No wonder they want streetcars there. I'd also recommend many roundabouts to facilitate left turning traffic. [And yes, the streetcars should go straight over the roundabout, having the top right of way]

by Jasper on Oct 21, 2009 10:25 am

Every issue always has its two sides (often even more), and bus bays are no different. While bus bays can be great in some cases: they get buses out of traffic, letting other motorists continue on; and they may also help emphasise a bus stop which provides a greater degree of service(s). However, the bus has to get back into traffic, and that may not always be an easy thing to do. The more vehement pro-transit and/or anti-car demographics may also see delayed motorists and posit "If they are so delayed, why don't they try transit?"

by Bossi on Oct 21, 2009 11:25 am

@ Bossi: f they are so delayed, why don't they try transit?

In my case because there is not transit from my home to the dealership where I was picking up my car. And neither is there acceptable transit from my dealership to my work.

I checked the WMATA tripplanner, that is so incredibly good, it definitively does not need competition from independent developers.

From home tells me to take the bus, then metro, then the bus again. Time: 1h30. Even with rush traffic by car it was about 25 mins.

Then from the dealership to work. The wonderful WMATA Trip planner takes me to the Pentagon first by bus, then by bus to Smithsonian, and then puts me on the ORANGE line back to work. Time: another hour. By car (despite traffic): 40 mins. I'd rather take the blue line straight from the Pentagon, but you were asking what?

And besides from that, there is no reason to not let traffic flow efficiently if you can. Problem on Columbia Pike is that the road isn't wide enough to accommodate bus bays :-( I am sure though that there is something else they can do. Build a street car for instance.

by Jasper on Oct 21, 2009 1:13 pm

Just to clarify: I'm not saying that that quote was necessarily my philosophy, but the philosophy of some (including a decent share of GGW followers).

I know zilch about Columbia Pike in Virginia, but at first thought: if it's not wide enough for bus bays, then is it wide enough for an LRT or BRT line? Or if the transitway is in shared lanes, wouldn't it be the same effect as if a bus was blocking the lane? I suspect I'm either misunderstanding your comment or just not adequately familiar with the roadway.

by Bossi on Oct 21, 2009 1:19 pm

There's a way of making tight right turns in a vehicle that's too long for an intersection: swing LEFT to get more clearance, THEN turn right.

In my extremely limited experience, I've followed these procedures:

(1) pull as close as possible to the curb, with the wheels parallel to the curb.

(2) turn the front wheels LEFT and swing the front of the vehicle AWAY from the curb - this gives you the room for the turn

(3) turn the wheel right to make the turn.

Are there problems with this procedure? It allows much tighter right turns than would otherwise be possible, and it eliminates right hook collisions with cyclists on the street. It probably takes longer than a straight right turn, especially if the driver needs to wait for a space in traffic to his left.

I really have no knowledge of the practicality or legality of this procedure - it's worked for me, but I've only driven large trucks with a police escort, supporting race operations for marathons, and the regular traffic laws didn't apply.

by David Ramos on Oct 21, 2009 7:26 pm