VILLAGE STREETS
RIGID GRID PATTERN STREETS
As we all know, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Before the widespread use of the private automobile people did not want long, winding streets that ended in a cul-de-sac. They wanted to walk the shortest distance possible to their destination. The grid pattern allowed easy access in all directions -- north, south, east and west.
Cities with a rigid grid pattern have very efficient traffic patterns for both pedestrians and automobiles. The grid provides not only straight streets, but also many possible detour routes for drivers to avoid construction, accidents and rush hour traffic.
I visited San Diego and Phoenix in 2004. Both are very large cities with most of their growth occurring in the past 40 years. The Phoenix valley is flat with the major streets laid out in a rigid grid pattern. The intersections in Phoenix are spaced farther apart than they are in San Diego. Phoenix also seemed to have fewer traffic signals. I liked the fact that it did not take long for me to learn the names of the major thoroughfares in the eastern valley area where I spent most of my time. It was easy to keep my orientation even when driving on unfamiliar streets for the first time.
San Diego is a very attractive city with many desirable features. However, I found it much harder to navigate there in my car. The topology worked against having a rigid grid pattern in much of San Diego, even if the planners had ever wanted one. With hindsight, I believe the planners in San Diego could still have used some of the principals of the TEN BLOCK VILLAGE PLAN to provide a more convenient street system.
MEANDERING SUBURBAN STREETS
The typical modern suburb is NOT very convenient. With its meandering streets and dead ends, most suburbs force drivers to leave their neighborhood and use a very busy collector street when they go shopping or when commuting to work. Many collectors are ugly, congested streets that frustrate drivers with their frequent traffic signals.
Collector streets oftentimes have no sidewalks or bike lanes. Few people walk or ride bicycles on or along these unfriendly streets because they feel afraid when crossing five or seven lanes of traffic with cars traveling at high speeds.
The post-World War II street pattern in North American cities adds a considerable distance to the length of a driver's trip. People would have greatly resisted the meandering street patterns in modern subdivisions had the majority been forced to walk to the business or shopping areas. But for most North Americans the automobile does all of the work, not their legs.
The extra distances that people drive every day have a hidden cost to society and to individuals. The average commute to work in North America keeps getting longer. The longer commutes causes drivers to buy more fuel, cars to create more pollution, and vehicle parts to wear out sooner. Our auto-dependent lifestyle has caused residents to gain more weight from a lack of exercise.
People who live in a meandering street pattern in a sprawling suburb spend more of their free time driving place to place than they would with a well designed grid pattern in a master planned community. People detest their long commutes to work or school and their wasted time stalled at traffic signals on congested collector streets when doing errands.
Finally, the meandering pattern that is common today does not lend itself well to pedestrians, bicycles and mass transit. A significant number of people, especially the young and the elderly, do not have private automobiles and are therefore very dependent on others for their transportation needs. Even adults who own private cars may desire more freedom of choice for their mode of transportation for themselves and their dependents.
Why did the street patterns change after World War II?
- One reason that the rigid grid pattern became unpopular may be that long, wide streets tend to encourage drivers to go faster than they would drive on meandering streets. Most home buyers would prefer to live on a quiet street.
- Through streets get more traffic than dead end streets as motorists from other neighborhoods use them as a shortcut to their destination.
- Yet another reason the rigid grid pattern became unpopular is that some people thought that the rigid layout of streets looked boring.
The TEN BLOCK VILLAGE PLAN addresses each of those issues.
MODIFIED GRID PATTERN STREET
The TEN BLOCK VILLAGE PLAN uses a modified grid pattern to avoid the problems associated with both the rigid grid pattern and the meandering street pattern. The PLAN takes the best features of the rigid grid pattern, such as convenient access to and from each home, and the traffic calming features of a meandering street pattern.
The modified grid pattern is different from a rigid grid pattern in two ways:
- First, each residential street in my modified grid pattern has a dead end. A rigid grid pattern would NOT have dead end streets.
- Second, each residential street in the TEN BLOCK VILLAGE PLAN forms a "T" intersection with the collector street (Village Drive), as opposed to a four-corner intersection found in a rigid grid pattern.
VILLAGE RESIDENTIAL STREETS
The first point of the modified grid pattern that I want to discuss is the residential street. I suggest using short dead end streets with a cul-de-sac or circle at the end for all residential areas. Short streets with simple traffic calming devices will deter fast driving and the dead end streets will deter unwanted traffic.
TND (Traditional Neighborhood Design) purists may be opposed to dead end streets. Keep in mind that only cars - not pedestrians and bicycles - are blocked by dead ends in the TEN BLOCK VILLAGE PLAN.
The residential streets in the PLAN may be laid out straight or they may have gentle bends to calm traffic. I lived in Des Moines, Iowa for ten years on 54th Street near a gentle bend. The bend on the street was very effective in slowing down motor vehicles and created a more attractive appearance for the neighborhood.
The north - south streets in the PLAN lead directly to a low volume collector street that I call Village Drive. The actual name of each Village Drive would include the village's name. For example, "Stonebridge Village" would have "Stonebridge Village Drive" (or simply "Stonebridge Drive") and "Trailwood Village" would have "Trailwood Village Drive" (or simply "Trailwood Drive").
In the TEN BLOCK VILLAGE PLAN there are no intermediate residential streets for motorists to meander along. It would be difficult for a driver to become lost in the village because each residential street intersects only one other street: Village Drive. Village Drive is the only collector street for a village and all of the residential streets form a "T" intersection with it.
A driver always enters a village on Village Drive. When the driver finds the residential street they are looking for they do not have to worry about taking a wrong turn; there is only one way to turn at the "T" intersection. There are eight residential streets north from Village Drive and eight south. The PLAN also features two non-residential streets near the center of the village.
Several east to west sidewalks may be constructed between the residential streets to provide shortcuts for pedestrians and bicycles. Notice that the modified grid pattern provides the full benefits of the rigid grid pattern for pedestrians and bicyclists.
VILLAGE COLLECTOR STREETS
The second point of the modified grid pattern is the simplicity of the collector street called Village Drive. Village Drive should be straight, or nearly straight. It begins at the west boundary of a village and continues to the east boundary of the village. Village Drive intersects with a Parkway at each end.
There are no private driveways accessing Village Drive, so dangerous cross traffic is limited to the intersections spaced one block apart. As stated above, there are eight residential streets to the north and eight residential streets to the south of Village Drive. In addition, each village has two nonresidential streets near the center where shopping and amenities are located.
A village with low-density housing would only need a two-lane Village Drive, while a high-density area may need a three-lane Village Drive. There is no need for traffic signals along the ten block long Drive because the short north-south streets will not generate much traffic.
Pedestrians & Bicyclists
Village Drive should be well lit, landscaped and designed to attract pedestrians and bicyclists. Sidewalks should be provided on both sides for walkers. Separate bicycle lanes should be located in the street itself, just to the right of automobile traffic in each direction to accommodate bicyclists. Bicycle lanes would promote the serious bicycle use by mature riders. Riders who use a bicycle for commuting or shopping will want to take the fastest, most direct route between their home and the amenities near the center of the village. Village Drive would be a more direct route than the recreational Greenbelt Trails around the perimeter of the village.
Bus Stop & Bike Lane in Irvine, California
Mass Transit
The TEN BLOCK VILLAGE PLAN is conducive to mass transit. A Park & Ride bus facility or a light rail station may be constructed near the center of each village to provide service to the Central Business District.
Or a traditional bus service along Village Drive could pick up riders who had walked the short distance from their home to the bus stop located near each intersection.
PARKWAYS
The third point of the modified grid pattern is the use of arterial streets I call Parkways. A north-south parkway is found at each end of Village Drive in the TEN BLOCK VILLAGE PLAN. Motorists use a Parkway to get to the other villages in the community, to the central business district, and to any regional shopping areas that may exist. All Parkways and Village Drives are laid out in a modified grid pattern for maximum efficiency in moving traffic throughout the entire community.
Projects with a low population density may only need two- or three-lane Parkways. High-density projects may need four-lane divided boulevards with center turning lanes. The landscaped Parkways would not have any private driveways -- the only cross traffic would be at the intersections with the Village Drives and the avenues in the central business district.
While the proper size of a village will vary between one planner and another, it would be desirable to have distances of one mile between the Village Drive intersections on the Parkways. Each Parkway allows for a fast, straight commute to the central business district from each and every village in the PLAN. A speed limit of 40 to 50 mph (60 to 80 kph) would be appropriate.
Irvine, California
ROUNDABOUTS
Roundabouts may be a useful alternative to using "T" intersections where the Parkways meets Village Drive. Roundabouts are an attractive and effective way to control traffic at intersections without using traffic signals or stop signs. Traditional intersections with large traffic signal arrays are not only less attractive, they are also expensive to install and maintain.
I believe that motorists would prefer having less mandatory stops when driving. During low traffic periods the cars at a roundabout do not have to stop at all as they pass through an intersection. During heavy traffic some motorists may have to yield the right of way briefly as they prepare to enter the roundabout, but no one is stopped for very long.
Small Roundabout in Waverly, Iowa
Click for more photos: http://www.roundaboutsusa.com/
A roundabout, by its design, will force speeders to slow down as they pass through the intersection. Because the vehicles must slow down, a roundabout will have less collisions than a traditional intersection. When collisions do occur, they are typically less severe than the high-speed collisions that occur at traffic signals.
Pedestrians will feel safer crossing an intersection with a roundabout for two reasons:
- First, the motor vehicles are moving slower.
- Second, a roundabout has "islands of safety" available for pedestrians to wait for traffic to clear.
Roundabouts could also be used on Village Drive where it intersects the non-residential north-south street near the center of each village.
GREENBELT TRAILS
The well-landscaped Greenbelt Trails in the TEN BLOCK VILLAGE PLAN follow the perimeter of each village. The north-south sections of the Trails parallel the Parkways and serve in the place of sidewalks. Those Trails provide a safe route for pedestrians and bicyclists between the villages and the Central Business District. The only motor traffic to cross the Trails is at the intersections with the Village Drives spaced ten blocks apart.
The east-west sections of the Trails are located near each cul-de-sac in a village. The Trails provide a quieter, more scenic path between the homes and the amenities near the center of the Village than the bike lanes on the Village Drives.
The huge master planned communities of Kingwood, Texas and Irvine, California have many miles of attractive trails. Some trails pass under their four-lane boulevards via pedestrian tunnels or over their boulevards via pedestrian bridges.
Irvine, California
You may contact John Cramer at airolink@gmail.com