As noted in a previous PPS blog post, an organization called Transportation Construction Coalition (TCC) commissioned preparation of a report called On A Crash Course: The Dangers & Health Costs of Deficient Roadways. I would like to add a few observations to the great article written by Renee Espiau entitled “The Myth of the Great Wide Way” and posted by Craig Raphael on July 7.

The TCC report, while not being taken too seriously amongst transportation professionals, has received a lot of media attention, probably due to a concerted effort by the TCCs media relations department. In the interest of full disclosure, readers who may potentially be influenced by this research should understand that the TCC is not an independent organization with an unbiased interest in whether more and bigger roads get built. The TCC consists of 28 national construction organizations and labor unions, with two roadway design organizations thrown in for good measure. It is co-chaired by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association and the Associated General Contractors of America.

This is not a bad thing.  I spent 34 years helping a state DOT build roads myself.  But let’s not accept this as independent research.

Readers should also be aware of the major assumptions made in the report.

First, by their own admission, for vehicles other than large trucks, the TCC had no real data on whether road conditions actually contributed to the crash or not. The report is completely silent on whether this is really appropriate considering the huge difference in handling characteristics of cars versus large trucks. This is particularly true regarding events where vehicles left the roadway and collided with a fixed object such as a tree or bridge abutment.

Second, the TCC report admits that it does not contain adequate information on travel speeds: “In the 2006 CDS, 61% of cases have missing values for reported travel speed.” The most current information available was from 1986, and even then, the data was from only a fraction of the universe representing crash data collection.

These two major gaps in the research are particularly troubling when applied to urban arterials. We are being told by the TCC — frightened actually — into believing that we need to ramp up our “Forgiving Highway” approach.  Straighten and widen our roads or our lives will be at peril! The Forgiving Highway approach was cultivated on the Proving Grounds of General Motors almost 5 decades ago and has worked marvelously for the Interstate Highways and other freeways.

The problem is that modern transportation engineering, giddy over the success of application of Forgiving Highways to our Freeways, began to apply the same principles to local streets and the in-between class of roads: arterials. It was logical to think this way, and still is OK on rural arterials, where killer trees and ditches should be addressed.  However, the method is counterproductive in urbanized areas. An increasing body of research is revealing what Eric Dumbaugh (a brilliant young researcher at Texas A&M) talks about in several papers. “Livable Streets,” those designed in harmony to support (not ignore) the urban context, induce drivers to travel at speeds appropriate for urban environments. His research shows the Forgiving Highway concept applied to urban arterials actually increases midblock crashes and also sideswipes and encounters with poles, trees and other fixed objects.

I am a career transportation engineer, so I obviously believe in safety. But Dumbaugh’s research confirms what I began to understand during the last 15 years of my career.  Indiscriminately widening and straightening roads is not automatically safer.  Site specific engineering analysis of crashes needs to be applied before deciding on how to make a road safer.  Sometimes slowing it down is better.  Interestingly, some folks at PennDOT came to the same conclusion. Their back-of-the-envelope research revealed that crash rates increased on half of about two dozen of their “safety” projects. The only conclusion that makes sense is that motorists, feeling safer at higher speeds, drove faster.  Sometimes, upgrading one section of roadway might actually induce motorists to speed into a hazard on the adjacent section.

Am I anti construction and jobs? Absolutely not. Collectively it would cost just as much if not more to deploy a national safety program that rebuilds roadsides instead of clearing them out. The construction industry, which has helped America build the greatest system of high speed roads in the history of the world, can now help save lives by gearing up to help us build the rest of the transportation network: both slow and fast! I am sure that the Transportation Construction Coalition is well intended and wants to make our roads safer as well as create jobs. I urge them to “look before they leap” before using their substantial resources to promote and lobby for application of the Forgiving Highways paradigm to all of our roads.

Photo: Akademgorodok: Town of Science in Siberia. 1995.

What: A pedestrian-oriented, academic oasis in the midst of the vast Siberian taiga.

Why it Works: Despite the Siberian cold (and Soviet planners), Akademgorodok is a robust pedestrian community. The town is home to dozens of academic institutions and the University of Novosibirsk. What really sets this town apart from others, in terms of public spaces, is its network of well-used pedestrian paths. These trails are the sinewy arteries of this vibrant town. They are an organic part of the landscape. The wide streets are busy twice a day with cars and buses slipping and sliding along the ice. The trails, by contrast, are almost always buzzing with activity. The pedestrian paths also link the town with surrounding destinations: the beach at the Ob Sea, the woods (for berry picking and mushroom gathering), and even nearby villages. Another neat aspect of the trails is that, since there are so many, you can choose from the many different ways to get from point A to point B. Stores, houses, offices and playgrounds are scattered in places, clustered in others, but they are all within walking distance. The paths are not where you plan to meet, they are the places where you run into familiar people by happenstance, which makes meeting friendly faces all the more enjoyable.

Read the entire profile here.

Click here to nominate your favorite public space!

Locavore

* Markets and eating local. Locavore ($3.99) uses the iPhone’s GPS capability to find your closest farmers’ markets, and tells you what’s currently in season near you, from almonds to zucchini.  It also links to recipes and information for all 234 food varieties it tracks — very convenient when you’re trying to figure out what to do with quince or sapote.  Farm Fresh NYC ($2.99) works similarly for the Big Apple, and includes a graphical grocery list; San Franciscans can use Sprout (free) to track down markets, CSAs, and other local food sources.  (And check out this group that combined their love of Apples with their love of (locally-grown) apples!)

UpNext 3D NYC

Everyblock

The latest in urban planning, placemaking, and citizen action:

• Does “right-sizing” have the potential to solve Detroit’s problems? [Detroit Free Press]
• Dumpster diving: in Brooklyn, garbage bins are repurposed as swimming pools. [New York Times]
• The public-health argument for walkable and bike-able communities. [Citiwire]
• Study: public transportation saves Americans 646 million hours per year! [Planetsave]
• In San Francisco, a new web-based tool to connect local food to buyers. [Civil Eats]
• Federal transportation funds favor new projects, while existing public transit is forced to cut corners. [The Nation]
• States make strides to integrate food stamps and farmers’ markets. [New York Times]
• In Minneapolis, downtown “ambassadors” keep streets clean, safe, and friendly. [Minneapolis Star-Tribune]
• Advocates in California mourn the “death of transit.” [Streetsblog SF]

By Ken Farmer and Tom Peyton

In NYC, street closures for pedestrians, activities and celebrations are becoming increasingly more commonplace. With normally ever-present automobiles absent, pedestrians are free to walk and play in the streets, meeting one another for shopping, dining and conversation.

Unlike traditional street closures surrounding a specific event (e.g., Bastille Day on Smith Street in Brooklyn), Williamsburg Walks — one of NYC’s most popular street events –was created simply to allow the community to define the identity of Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn between North 4th to North 9th Streets. This experimental approach was intended to enable the community to reconceive its relationship with Williamsburg’s bustling central avenue as a place for eating, dancing, creating and observing art, relaxing and much more.

Revelers play music and sell goods. Photo Credit: Aurash Khawarzad

The series of yearly closures began June 13th this year.  On Saturday, July 11th — the last event of the summer — Bedford was packed with revelers as each block took on an identity of its own. Vendors sold books, records and various oddities. Bands played music without the help of electricity. Artists smashed pianos and spread Yves Klein blue paint around canvasses. Civic groups shared information with concerned residents and those visiting the neighborhood.

Armed with Twister, sidewalk chalk and a hunger for 4-square, PPS staff spoke with lots of people strolling up and down Bedford Ave. First, we asked patrons to map their favorite spaces in the neighborhood and those with the greatest opportunity for improvement. We also asked the community what kind of activities they would like to do in their public spaces. Not surprisingly, participants had several creative ideas about the neighborhood’s physical environment, programming in public spaces and changing social dynamics.

Thinking about the physical environment, people were excited about increasing the number of public activities that would allow them to interact with other people in the neighborhood. Several people wanted more places to sit, especially seats that they could move around and configure however they wanted. The desire for an outdoor swimming pool came up a fair amount, and many attendees were aware of the current plan to reopen McCarren pool as a functioning swimming pool.

People were concerned about the disruptive nature of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway running through the neighborhood and wondered if creating parks and increasing greenspace under and around the freeway would improve current conditions. There were also many unique ideas for highly interactive projects including outdoor rock climbing walls, sculpture parks, ziplines between buildings and litebrite walls!

Priti Patel talks with an engaged resident. Photo Credit: Aurash Khawarzad

Community and rooftop gardens were also a hot topic. The high number of vacant lots in the area had people talking about reclaiming the spaces and turning them into communal vegetable gardens and green space. Referencing Greenpoint’s flourishing Rooftop Farms, residents were looking up and imagining green roofs that could provide the neighborhood with fresh, local produce. Food was very much on people’s minds. Among calls for new types of cuisine in the area, there was also interest in communal dinners and potlucks. These ideas dovetail well with community gardens as ideal spaces to hold community dinners.

People were focused on how to improve waterfront access and had a host of ideas relating specifically to East River State Park. Suggested improvements to the Williamsburg waterfront included building piers, boardwalks and artificial beaches. Residents also offered creative ideas for increasing programming such as kayaking and fishing. Concerts are being held in East River State Park this summer but the fate of the concert series in future summers is uncertain.

Participants generated several ideas about programming for the neighborhood in general as well. People were enjoying the Williamsburg Walks experience so much that they wanted regular, year-round street closures including a possible expansion of the streets closed during Williamsburg Walks. Many were interested in an increase of participatory sports and physical activities including kickball, capture the flag, four-square and yoga. Events for kids and improving the conditions of the neighborhood’s playgrounds were also popular ideas. The concerts at the waterfront are a great start but local residents wanted even more live, outdoor music throughout the neighborhood. Outdoor movies were also a popular idea.

Williamsbug Walks on Bedford Ave. Photo Credit: Aurash Khawarzad

Most residents were aware of the changing nature of the neighborhood and the fact that so many new types of people are moving into Williamsburg. Longtime residents of the neighborhood were concerned about new residents appropriately integrating into the existing community. Late-stage gentrification typified by new real estate development in the area was a concern for residents both new and old. It was obvious that everyone on the street was aware that Williamsburg is in a state of flux and that what happens right now will have a big impact on the future of the neighborhood. Community board involvement was suggested as a means of creating meaningful connections between new and old residents, educating the community as a whole about where they live, and providing a forum for collective action.

By putting the concerns of pedestrians ahead of the concerns of motorists, Bedford Ave became a space for new community interactions. Williamsburg Walks succeeded in filling the street with an engaged group of people.

Check out PPS’ work on The New York City Streets Renaissance to learn more about how reclaiming streets for pedestrian use can help build community.

We would love to hear more about your experience of street closures in Williamsburg, or wherever your community may be.

The city of Los Angeles has long been plagued by gang violence.  California has the largest gang presence of any state, and L.A. is at the top of the state’s list for gang-related violent crime.  Parks in poor neighborhoods are a frequent site of gang clashes, turning ostensibly public spaces into foreboding “territory” into which average citizens dare not venture – especially after dark.  Violence typically spikes during the warm summer months.

L.A.’s traditional approach to gang violence puts heavy emphasis on policing and physical separation of rival gangs, making use of “gang injunctions” to restrict the movement and public activity of gang members.  In the words of one LAPD officer, these measures “[make] it a crime — an arrestable crime — to hang out together.”  Though these programs appear to have met with some success at reducing crime rates (and the California Supreme Court has upheld their constitutionality), they have come under some legal and policy scrutiny for being overly restrictive of civil liberties and subject to arbitrary enforcement.

Last summer, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the Gang Reduction and Youth Development office implemented a new approach to fighting gang violence: parks programming.  The Summer Night Lights program extended nighttime hours in eight parks in troubled neighborhoods — keeping lights on until midnight, and sponsoring nighttime movies and family-oriented activities four nights a week.  According to the mayor’s office, the program was responsible for a 17% decline in crime rates and an astounding 86% decline in homicides for those areas.

This summer, the city is building on that success, doubling the size of Summer Night Lights to sixteen parks in blighted areas.  The park activities have become even more important in light of California’s budget troubles, as local schools have been forced to cut summer programs, leaving kids with more free time and less structure.  L.A. plans to serve 350,000 free dinners over the course of the summer, and will offer a variety of programming focused on families and youth.  The multitude of programs includes basketball and soccer leagues, safe skateboarding programs, screening of local films, and acting, dance, hip-hop, and fashion workshops.

Lighting up L.A. to fight crime and build community. (Credit: L.A. Times)

One of the most notable aspects of Summer Night Lights is the city’s engagement with community stakeholders, including at-risk youth themselves.  One component of the program is the creation of a ten-member “youth squad” for each park, which will assist in staffing events and help to create neighborhood awareness.  Summer Night Lights is being sponsored by $1 million in private donations, which the city has pledged to match – a great example of the power of public-private partnerships in community placemaking.

Los Angeles hopes that the power of a great place with great things to do will stave off violence in its urban parks — so it has suspended gang injunctions for gang members peacefully attending Summer Night Lights programs.  By allowing these youths to socialize freely in the park with other community members, L.A. is recognizing that providing positive options is an essential tool in improving urban neighborhoods.  As gang intervention worker Miguel Leon told the New York Times: “You can rewrite the narrative of your life and your neighborhood.  A gang affiliation is not your whole identity.  You’re also part of this community.”

In The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces, William H. Whyte remarked that “the way people use a place mirrors expectations.”  L.A.’s approach to urban parks matches this observation perfectly.  By inviting positive uses in its public spaces and treating gang members as stakeholders, Summer Night Lights is creating community bonds and changing the fabric of L.A.’s neighborhoods from within.

What: A multi-use transfer point for all main lines of mass transit in Tokyo, this station is filled with people from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. every day of the week.

Why it Works: The Japanese know how to use their valuable space efficiently. This is urban development at its best; you can go to one spot in the city and have a gazillion choices of activities to do. There are no dead spaces in this station. Every square foot of real estate has its function, including the locker areas, restrooms, police station, telephone booths, etc. The train station is open to all streets. Imagine a spider web with Shinjuku Station in the middle and Tokyo streets connected radially from it. You can access the station from many parts of the downtown. Wayfinding is easy, because there are signs every 10 feet, and the signs are in Japanese and English. You can do your shopping at the department stores right in the train station, or have a quick dinner at one of the take out soba places, or grab some toiletries at the small drugstores in the station. Shinjuku Station is one of the most common meeting places for people because it is the point where all trains in Tokyo converge, so it is convenient to use as a meeting place.

Read the entire profile here.

Click here to nominate your favorite public space!

The latest in urban planning, placemaking, and citizen action:

• Making Abu Dhabi’s streets safer for pedestrians. [The National]
• New Urbanism and adaptive reuse take hold in Nashville’s Gulch neighborhood. [New York Times]
• What sort of planning makes for interesting walks?  Conor Friedersdorf argues against tranquility and for chaos: or as Holly Whyte would say, “What attracts people most … is other people.” [The Atlantic]
• Bus rapid transit in Bogota eases traffic and reduces emissions: can other cities do the same? [New York Times]
• In Chicagoland, African-American churches nourish body and soul with farmers’ markets. [Chicago Tribune]
• In Seoul and Yonkers, “daylighting” waterways creates great places (and has environmental benefits). [New York Times]
• President Obama and DOT Secretary LaHood on federal urban policy. [Streetsblog LA]
• NYC pays tribute to Jane Jacobs’s original sidewalk. [New York Times]
• Clean, well-maintained parks are a win-win situation. [Marietta Times]

If a recent report from the Department of City Planning is any indication, the prospect of bike sharing in NYC seems to be a real one. The 142-page report thoroughly examines existing bike sharing programs, and explores opportunities and strategies for implementing a system right here in NYC.

Still, with all of its coverage, the report omitted one huge benefit that a bike sharing program may provide: an increase in bike flocks.

Bike flocks—large groups of cyclists‑‑‑would provide a much needed presence during this period of cycling transition. Although hundred­­­s of bike lanes have been created in recent years, it does not yet feel as if the bicycle is a respected member of the street community. One reason for this: the lack of large groups of riders. With the exception of periodic Critical Mass rides, cyclists are often isolated street members, and rarely do you see a group of more than 5 or 6 riders at a time. Compare this with many European cities where large flocks of cyclists demand to be taken seriously.

Bike flocks in New York City make cycling safer

A larger community of cyclists in NYC will instantly bring about more respect and attention. It will decrease the amount of automobiles that use bikeways as parking spaces. It will force drivers—everybody, actually—to be more aware, and acclimate them to sharing the road with cyclists. It will increase the pressure on politicians to pass bicycle-friendly legislation (like the Bicycle Access Bill). Ultimately, it will result in a friendlier, safer bicycle environment, as well as more vibrant streets.Of course, there will be hiccups along the way, and there are many practical questions that have need to be addressed. Still, the idea of a New York City bike share program is good news for anybody in favor of friendlier streets.

What: Over 200 acres of community park, with a shoreline along Lake Huron.

Why it Works: Canatara Park spans almost 85 acres, and sits on the edge of Lake Huron. The people in this area have always loved this park. The land was bought in the 1930’s with money from both the citizens of Sarnia and the municipal government. Over the years, the area has been developed, but always with a focus on the area’s environmental character (i.e., native plants, no hindrance to the native animal habitat, no carnival like developments). The park’s green space is phenomenal, and the beach is as well. The sports field consists of about 6 acres and provides facilities for all amateur sports. The park can be accessed from all areas- beach, woods, one roadway that curls through the park- but one must park the cars to access and walk to all areas available. The park is consistently used through all seasons, though at its height in the summertime. Being in Canatara Park reminds us of what nature truly offers us and how we must remain humble in its presence.

Read the entire profile here.

Click here to nominate your favorite public space!