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By Peg Staeheli
SvR Design Company
David Engwicht, author of Reclaiming our Cities and Towns: Better Living with Less Traffic, wrote that "the role of transport is to maximize exchange." As a community, we can think of this in the broad sense: that roads and circulation should bring people together. From a planning and design perspective, we may have lost direction on this issue. We now need to refocus our attention from moving cars to linking people and communities. We move through our neighborhoods, our towns and cities, and our region. We walk, we bike, we skate, we drive and sometimes we use public transportation but do we view our public right-of-ways as a place of exchange? We can and we should -- if we begin to plan and design with this overriding goal in mind.
Most older neighborhoods have streets and sidewalks that are relatively pleasant. The average person can walk, if they choose, to visit a neighbor, pick up groceries or go to a park. When we walk in our neighborhood we connect with where we live. If we walk frequently, we may begin to make friends and develop the feeling of community. In newer neighborhoods, sidewalks are often missing. When sidewalks are present, they are often broken up by driveways. This lack or discontinuity of walks takes the comfort out of foot travel: a pedestrian must be on the lookout for vehicles along the road edge or crossing their path.
Improvements that give us the opportunity to walk are not complicated. However, the process can be - unless we begin by working with our communities. Often street improvement projects, even those with the purpose of providing pedestrian and bicycle access, face vocal opposition. People are afraid that more pavement will create perceived "urban ills" such as speed, crime and population growth. We can help calm these fears by beginning our planning process carefully -- by discussing the general needs of pedestrian, recreational and automobile circulation. We can show our neighbors what has and what hasn't worked in other places. Once the community begins to be informed, we can start planning and designing specifics.
Where should we start? From a pedestrian perspective, the biggest concern may be safe crossing at roadways. Currently, there are conflicting studies on the safety of marked crosswalks. However, marked or not, the idea of a safer crossing location is a reality. Curb bulbs, raised pavement, pavement textural changes, and sight distance all assist in identifying the preferred crossing location. When designing for pedestrians, crosswalks should be located at the shortest direct link to the desired connection point. For long blocks or distances, a study of pedestrian patterns and destination points is necessary. When feasible, crosswalks should be lit. Refuge islands should be located in the middle of wide street crossings to allow a safe spot for those unable to cross within the allowable time. Downtown Kirkland is an example of how you can retrofit a friendly street environment and, importantly, how commerce can directly profit from these improvements. The City of Seattle has become very proactive in cross walk improvements and in funding the installation of traffic circles to slow down cars on residential streets. Small improvements add up, so every project should consider possible right-of-way improvements to enhance both the pedestrian and the vehicular environment.
Our streets, especially our arterials, need to be viewed not just as traffic facilitators but also as part of our overall living environment. If travel to work and school is pleasant, we will arrive in a more productive mood than if we spend our time in slow-moving traffic and in corridors of unfriendly asphalt. Street trees are a low-cost improvement to the street environment and should be a component in all transportation improvements.
The Seattle Housing Authority is in the process of redeveloping the 102-acre Holly Park Garden Community. One major component is the reorientation of the streets to connect with the surrounding neighborhood. The project considers how people will travel and how this travel will "maximize exchange." It aims to make the streets "welcoming," a sign that this is an open community, instead of just facilitating movement in and out. As Joni Balter of the Seattle Times wrote, "The alternative to stepping up to your civic responsibility is - what? - everyone retreating to gated communities, with all the amenities, and a sign out front that says, in essence, 'I've got mine.'"
In the recent Walkable Communities Seminar, sponsored by the Washington State Department of Transportation, Dan Burden identified design, funding and community participation as elements needed to achieve livable streets. What we need to do is raise our children to understand the qualities of walkable communities so they will grow up to support and build them.
Peg Staeheli is a landscape architect and principal in SvR Design Company of Seattle.
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