Engineering Design for Pedestrians

It is essential that Schenectady incorporate the best pedestrian engineering design on all roads with heavy pedestrian and potentially heavy bicyclist traffic.


There is a discussion today in the Times about pedestrian and biking safety. One of the commentators addresses design, 2 focus on enforcement, while the last commentator reminds us that bikers need to follow the laws as well.  The design essay mentions raised pedestrian crosswalks; he probably means bridges over traffic, but changing the texture of the street before and on a cross walk would also slow down motorists and make them aware of pedestrian crossings.  He also cites Complete Streets an organization that advocates for streets designed for all, not just cars. http://www.completestreets.org/complete-streets-fundamentals/resources/

Engineering design for pedestrians:

http://www.walkinginfo.org/engineering/

Also a book in pdf from the Federal Highway Administration: 

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/sidewalk2/pdf.htm

the chapter on crosswalks with plenty of good ideas

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/sidewalk2/pdf/09chapter8.pdf 

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/02/27/reducing-traffic-fatalities-for-cyclists-and-pedestrians/it-starts-with-better-design

It Starts With Better Design

Peter Calthorpe is the author of "Urbanism in the Age of Climate Change" and a principal at the planning firm Calthorpe Associates in Berkeley, Calif.

FEBRUARY 27, 2012

Suburbs have reduced pedestrian and bike injuries by largely eliminating pedestrians and bikers a solution, but not a great one. Streets there are designed for cars, and other users are secondary. However, in New York City, pedestrians remain a powerful reality, and bikers are making a comeback. Policy and design must be combined to balance these groups’ claims on public space. “Complete Streets” — the idea that roads should be balanced in use and provide for user safety — is being pioneered in the city and supported by the federal Department of Transportation.

The answers are simple: create safe bike lanes, generous pedestrian spaces, protected crossings and narrow car lanes.

The “broken windows” strategy aims to change the character of places by policing a range of ambient activities. I agree that we need to intensify policing of auto infractions and make consequences for dangerous behavior more intense. But these policing efforts should be complemented by redesign of streets and reversal of the practice that has driven suburban land use: the more we design for cars, the less walkable, bikeable and enjoyable our streets become — and therefore the more we want to drive.

The answers are simple: create safe bike lanes, generous pedestrian spaces, protected, visible, and short crossings and narrow car lanes to slow traffic. Some Chinese cities are attempting to bring back bikers by building barriers to protect bike lanes, and in many European cities bike lanes are designated by much more than painted lines.

Another key to safety is slowing cars at intersections. Raised pedestrian crossings and “bulb-outs” that shorten crossings are good examples. Even more radical is the notion of auto-free streets: boulevards just for transit, bikers and pedestrians. New York City has the density and mix to justify many of these strategies.

Close to 40 percent of all land in our cities and towns is devoted to streets. They provide for much more than mobility: they carry essential utilities, they provide access for police and fire protection, and perhaps most important, they provide the ground for the social interaction that makes cities civil, exciting and convivial. Streets are the bedrock that makes cities great places to live. How we design and use them is a profound expression of who we are.