Topic # 625-000-015 May - 2008

Manual of Uniform Minimum Standards

for Design, Construction and Maintenance
for Streets and Highways

CHAPTER 18

TRADITIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN

A Introduction

Florida is a national leader in planning, design and construction of Traditional

Neighborhood Development (TND) projects and in the renovation of downtown
neighborhoods and business districts. The treatment of land use, development patterns,
and transportation network necessary for successful TND projects is a major departure
from those same elements currently utilized in the current Green Book which generally
apply to Conventional Suburban Development (CSD) projects.

The design of TND projects requires a greater focus on supporting pedestrian, bicycle
and transit activity, thereby putting motor vehicle movement in a less dominant position.
A well designed TND is created using tools that many professionals are not accustomed
to using, and therefore this chapter is intended to provide best practices to facilitate
proper design of TND projects. Consequently, the emphasis varies from the rest of the
Green Book where the focus is on establishing minimum standards. In order to provide
a design that accomplishes the goals set out in this chapter, designers will be guided by
providing design criteria based on the context of the built environment established for a
portion of the community which has clearly defined characteristics necessary to achieve
the goals for compact livable development patterns, also called “Smart Growth.”

This chapter is intended to provide guidance for planning and designing Greenfield
(new), infill TND and urban renewal projects. It is also intended to clearly differentiate
the differences between CSD and TND projects to maximize the possibility of proper
design. This is important since the street geometry, adjacent land use, and other
elements will either support transit, pedestrian and bicycle activity or create an
environment that is not very supportive to those modes.

Subsequent sections in this chapter will help the professional understand why and how
to apply design features.

Differences between Conventional and Traditional Neighborhood Development:

The characteristics of CSD typically include separated land uses, where housing, retail,
office and industrial uses are isolated from one another. Housing is usually further
separated into neighborhoods such that apartments, condominiums and other higher
density housing are separate from single family housing. Single family housing is often
further separated into various price levels. Public services such as parks, schools, post
offices, and health facilities are at such a large scale and separated from other uses that
they can only be reached by motor vehicle.

In CSD, big box retail, office parks and other commerce can only be sustained in an
auto dominant environment since they must have a regional market to succeed.

Finally, the roadway system is hierarchal and very much like a plumbing system where
“local” streets with lower traffic volumes feed into “collector” streets with higher levels of
traffic, then finally onto the “arterial”, where speeds and volumes are typically much
higher. Block sizes are large to minimize the number of intersections. This type of
roadway network puts essentially all trips onto the arterial with little to no alternate
routes for travelers.

Design speeds are rarely less than 35 mph and may be as high as 50 mph. Thus longer
distance through traffic is mixed with shorter trip traffic accessing local services. Higher
volume, high speed streets fronted by the walls of subdivisions or surface parking lots of
commercial developments result in a built environment that is hostile to pedestrian,
transit and bicycle modes of transportation. See Figure 1 below for an illustration of
conventional suburban development.

Conventional Suburban
Development

Traditional Neighborhood
Development

Figure 1
Traditional Neighborhood Development in contrast is very supportive to pedestrian,
bicycle and transit modes. Land uses are mixed, with retail, office, civic buildings and
residential interwoven throughout the community, and many times located in the same
buildings. Block sizes are a smaller scale to improve walkability and to create a fine
network of streets, providing a variety of routes for all users.

Multi-family and single family housing are located in close proximity or adjacent to each
other, and homes of various size and price are mixed into neighborhoods. On street
parking is favored over surface parking and one way streets are rarely used. Travel
speeds for motor vehicles are ideally kept in the range of 20-35 mph. This creates and
environment that is safer and more comfortable for pedestrians and bicyclists.

B CONTEXT

Context is the environment the roadway is built in which includes buildings, adjacent
land use, historic, cultural, and other characteristics that form the built and natural
environment of a given place. The ITE Proposed Recommended Practice for Context
Sensitive Solutions in Designing Major Urban Thoroughfares for Walkable Communities
refers to as the Transect Zones used in this document as “Context Zones.” They are in
fact the same.

In order to more clearly define the various contexts or transects used throughout the
remaining portions of the document, the transects and their related characteristics are
listed in Table 1 below and illustrated in Figure 2 below.
 Table 1

Transect Distinguishing General Building Frontage Typical Type of

Zone Characteristics Character Placement Types Building Public
Height Open
Space
T-1 Natural Landscape Natural N/A N/A N/A Natural
Natural Features open space
T-2 Rural Agricultural with Agricultural Large N/A N/A Agricultural
scattered activity and setbacks and natural
development natural features
T-3 Primarily single Detached Varying Lawns, 1 to 2 Parks,
Suburban family residential buildings and front and porches, story with greenbelts
with walkable landscaped side yard fences, some 3
development yards setbacks naturalistic story
pattern and
pedestrian facilities,
tree
dominant planting
landscape pattern
T-4 Mix of housing Predominantly Shallow to Porches, 2 to 3 Parks,
General types including detached medium fences story with greenbelts
Urban attached units, with buildings, front and some
a range of balance side yard variation
commercial and
civic activity at the
between setbacks and few
neighborhood and landscape and taller
community scale buildings, workplace
presence of buildings
pedestrians
T-5 Urban Attached housing Predominately Small or no Stoops, 3 to 5 Parks,
Center types such as attached setbacks, dooryards, story with plazas, and
townhouses, and buildings, buildings storefronts, some squares,
apartments mixed landscaping oriented to arcaded variation boulevard
with retail,
workplace, and
within the the street walkways median
civic activities at public right of with landscaping
the community or way, placement
sub-regional scale substantial and
pedestrian character
activity defining a
street wall
T-6 Urban Highest intensity Attached Small or no Stoops, 4+ story Parks,
Core areas in sub-region buildings setbacks, dooryards, buildings plazas, and
or region, with high providing a buildings forecourts, with a few squares,
density residential sense of oriented to storefronts, shorter boulevard
and workplace
uses,
enclosure and the street, arcaded buildings median
entertainment, civic continuous placed at walkways landscaping
and cultural uses street wall, the front
landscaping property
within the line
public right of
way, highest
pedestrian and
transit activity
Districts To be designated and described locally, districts are areas that are single use or multi-use with low
density development patterns. These may be large facilities such as airports, business parks, and
industrial areas
 Figure 2

C PLANNING CRITERIA

Planning for Traditional Neighborhood Development occurs at several levels, the region,
the city/town, the community, the block and finally the building. Planning should be
holistic, looking carefully at the relationship between land use, buildings and
transportation in an integrated fashion. This approach and the use of form based codes
can create development patterns that support more traditional development patterns
that balance pedestrian, transit and bicycling with motor vehicle modes of
transportation. The following sections help to define considerations for developing
communities at different scales in order to increase the potential for creating traditional
neighborhood development patterns.

The principles for defining or creating the context should be considered based on the
scale of community that is being evaluated, developed or redeveloped.

The City/Town – Guiding Principles

• The city should retain its natural infrastructure and visual character derived from
its location and climate, including topography, landscape and coastline
• Growth strategies should encourage infill and redevelopment
• New development should be structured to reinforce a pattern of neighborhoods
and urban centers, focused growth at transit nodes rather than along corridors.
• Transportation corridors should be planned and reserved in coordination with
land use.
• Green corridors should be encouraged to enhance and connect the urbanized
areas.
• The city should include a framework of transit, pedestrian, and bicycle systems
that provide alternatives to automobile use.
 • A diversity of land use should be distributed throughout the city to enable a
variety of economic activity, workplace, residence, recreation and civic activity.
• Affordable and workforce housing should be distributed throughout the city to
match job opportunities and to avoid concentrations of poverty.

The Community - Guiding Principles

• Neighborhoods and urban centers should be the preferred pattern of

development and Transect Zones emphasizing single-use should be the
exception.
• Neighborhoods and urban centers should be compact, pedestrian-oriented and
mixed-use. Density and intensity of use should relate to degree of transit service.
• The ordinary activities of daily living should occur within walking distance of most
dwellings, allowing independence to those who do not drive.
• Interconnected networks of thoroughfares should be designed to disperse and
reduce the length of automobile trips and to encourage walking and bicycling. A
range of open space, including parks, squares and playgrounds, should be
distributed within neighborhoods and urban centers.
• Appropriate building densities and land uses should occur within walking
distance of transit stops.
• Civic, institutional and commercial activity should be embedded in mixed-use
urban centers, not isolated in remote single-use complexes.
• Schools should be located to enable children to walk or bicycle to them.
• Within neighborhoods, a range of housing types and price levels should
accommodate diverse ages and incomes.

The Block and the Building - Guiding Principles

• Buildings and landscaping should contribute to the physical definition of

thoroughfares as civic places.
• Development should adequately accommodate automobiles while respecting the
pedestrian and the spatial form of public space.
• The design of streets and buildings should reinforce safe environments, but not
at the expense of accessibility.
• Architecture and landscape design should grow from local climate, topography,
history, and building practice.
• Buildings should allow their inhabitants to experience the geography and climate
through energy efficient design.
• Civic buildings and public gathering places should be located to reinforce
community identity and support self-government.

The following principles are intended to offer guidance on the most appropriate setting
for the design principles of this chapter. The principles are not intended to be criteria,
but it is recommended that at least seven of the principles or their intent be reflected in
a project or community setting for it to be considered a TND.
NOTE TO TEAM: Discussion needs to occur on the following principles since
some of these should not be optional. Possibly establish those that are “non-
negotiable” and allow flexibility with others.

• Has a compact, pedestrian-oriented scale that can be traversed in a five to ten-

minute walk from core to edge

• Is designed with low speed, low volume, interconnected streets with short block
lengths that are between 150 to 400 feet and cul-de-sacs only where no
alternative exists

• Orients buildings close to the street with off-street parking located to the side or
back of buildings as not to interfere with pedestrian activity

• Has building designs that emphasize higher intensities, street frontages,

connectivity of sidewalks and paths, and transit stops to promote pedestrian
activity and accessibility

• Incorporates a continuous pedestrian network with wider sidewalks in

commercial and core areas, but at a minimum has sidewalks of at least five feet
that are on both sides of a street Accommodates pedestrians with short street
crossings, which may include mid-block crossings, bulb-outs, raised crosswalks,
specialty pavers, or pavement markings

• Uses on-street parking to buffer the sidewalk, calm traffic, and offer diverse
parking options

• Is composed of a community core with moderate to high residential densities, at

least ten percent of developed area for nonresidential uses, and civic uses and
open spaces integrated into neighborhoods

• Varies residential densities, lot sizes, and housing types, while maintaining an
average gross density of at least eight dwellings per acre and higher density in
the core

• Has only the minimum rights-of-way necessary for the street, median, planting
strips, sidewalks, utilities, and maintenance and which are appropriate to
adjacent land uses and building types

• Locates arterial highways, major collector roads, and other high-volume corridors
at the edge of the TND, not through the TND

C.1 Definitions
NOTE TO TEAM: Should definitions be placed at beginning of section where text
is first located or some other location?

o Alley - A narrow street, especially one through the middle of a block giving
access to the rear of lots or buildings.
o Avenue (AV) - a thoroughfare of high vehicular capacity and low speed.
Avenues are short distance connectors between urban centers. Avenues may
be equipped with a landscaped median. Avenues become collectors upon
exiting urban areas.
o Boulevard - a boulevard is usually a thoroughfare, divided with a median
down the center.
o Context – the financial, environmental, historical, cultural, land use types,
activities and built environment which help to establish the configuration of
roadways.
o Context sensitive solutions (CSS) - is a collaborative, interdisciplinary
approach that involves all stakeholders to develop a transportation facility that
fits its physical setting and preserves scenic, aesthetic, historic and
environmental resources, while maintaining safety and mobility. CSS is an
approach that considers the total context within which a transportation
improvement project will exist.
o Design Speed - is the velocity at which a thoroughfare tends to be driven
without the constraints of signage or enforcement.
o Human scale - describes buildings, block structure and other aspects of the
built environment which are designed in consideration for pedestrians and
bicyclists, their rate of travel and other physical needs
o Lane –
o Liner Building - a building specifically designed to mask a parking lot or a
parking garage from the frontage.
o Live-Work - a dwelling unit that contains a commercial component in the unit.
o Mixed Use Development - the practice of allowing more than one type of use
in a building or set of buildings. This can mean some combination of
residential, commercial, industrial, office, institutional, or other land uses.
o Modern Roundabout - a circular intersection with specific design and traffic
control features. These features include yield control of all entering traffic,
channelized approaches, and appropriate geometric curvature to ensure that
travel speeds on the circulatory roadway are typically less than 30 mph.
 Modern Roundabout

o Neighborhood - an urbanized area at least 40 acres that is primarily

residential. A Neighborhood shall be based upon a partial or entire Standard
Pedestrian Shed.
o New Urbanism - a development philosophy based on the principles of
traditional neighborhood development designed for the pedestrian and transit
as well as the car; cities and towns should be shaped by physically defined
and universally accessible public spaces and community institutions; urban
places should be framed by architecture and landscape design that celebrate
local history, climate, ecology, and building practice.
o Passage - a pedestrian connector passing between buildings, providing
shortcuts through long blocks and connecting rear parking areas to frontages.
o Path - a pedestrian way traversing a park or rural area, with landscape
matching the contiguous open space.
o Pedestrian Shed - An area, approximately circular, that is centered on a
common destination. A Pedestrian Shed is applied to determine the
approximate size of a Neighborhood. A Standard Pedestrian Shed is 1/4 mile
radius or 1320 feet, about the distance of a five-minute walk at a leisurely
pace.
 1/4 Mile Radius

Pedestrian Shed

o Private Frontage - the privately held area between the r/w line and the
building facade.
o Public Frontage - the area between the curb of the thoroughfare and the r/w
line. Elements of the public frontage include the type of curb, walk, planter,
street tree and streetlight.
o Rear Alley/Lane - a vehicular driveway located to the rear of lots providing
access to service areas and parking, and containing utility easements.
o Retail - premises available for the sale of merchandise and food service.
o Smart Growth - an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates
growth in the center of a city to avoid urban sprawl; and advocates compact,
transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle friendly land use, including mixed used
development with a range of housing choices.
o Road - a local, rural and suburban thoroughfare of low vehicular speed and
capacity. Its public frontage consists of swales drained by percolation and a
walking path or bicycle trail along one or both sides. This type is allocated to
the more rural Transect Zones (T1-T3).
o Setback - the area of a lot measured from the r/w line to a building facade or
elevation.
o Street - a local urban thoroughfare of low speed and capacity. This type is
permitted within the more urban Transect Zones (T4-T6).
o Terminated Vista - a building or feature located at the end of a thoroughfare in
a position of prominence.
 Terminated Vista

o Thoroughfare: a corridor incorporating sidewalks, moving lanes and parking

lanes within a right-of-way.
o TND or Traditional Neighborhood Development: a Community Type based
upon a Standard Pedestrian Shed oriented toward a Common Destination
consisting of a mixed-use center or corridor, and having a minimum
developable area of 80 acres.
o Transit-Oriented Development - a regional center development with transit
available or proposed. NEEDS WORK
o Town Center - the mixed-use center or main Commercial corridor of a
community. A Town Center in a hamlet or small TND may consist of little
more than a meeting hall, corner store, and main civic space.
o Transect - a system of ordering human habitats in a range from the most
natural to the most urban. The SmartCode is based upon six Transect Zones
which describe the physical character of place at any scale, according to the
density and intensity of land use and urbanism.
o Transect Zone (T-Zone): Transect Zones are administratively similar to the
land use zones in conventional codes, except that in addition to the usual
building use, density, height, and setback requirements, other elements of the
intended habitat are integrated, including those of the private lot and building
and the adjacent public streetscape. The elements are determined by their
location on the Transect scale. The T-Zones are: T1 Natural, T2 Rural, T3
Sub-Urban, T4 General Urban, T5 Urban Center, and T6 Urban Core

C.2 Land Use

In addition to its importance in calculating trip generation, ITE recognizes land

use as fundamental to establishing context, design criteria, cross-section
elements, and right-of-way allocation. The pedestrian travel generated by the
land uses also is important to the design process for various facilities.

Land use considerations for TNDs are outlined in the Planning Criteria section
and are applied at a variety of scales. A well-integrated or “fine grained” land
use mix within buildings and blocks is essential. These buildings and blocks
aggregate into neighborhoods, which should be designed with a mix of uses to
form a comprehensive planning unit that aggregates into larger villages, towns,
and regions. Except at the regional scale, each of these scales requires land
uses to be designed at a pedestrian scale and to be served by “complete streets”
that safely and attractively accommodate many modes of travel.

The proposed land uses, residential densities, building size and placement,
proposed parking (on-street and off-street) and circulation, the location and use
of open space, and the development phasing are all considerations in facility
design for TNDs. ITE recommends a high level of connectivity, short blocks that
provide many choices of routes to destinations, and a fine-grained urban land
use and lot pattern. Higher residential density and nonresidential intensity, as
measured by floor area ratios of building area to site area, are required for well-
designed TNDs.

C.3 Networks

Urban network types are frequently characterized as either traditional (a highly

interconnected grid) or conventional (characterized by hierarchal, disconnected
system). Traditional networks are typically characterized by a relatively non-
hierarchical pattern of short blocks and straight streets with a high density of
intersections which supports all modes of travel in a balance fashion. The typical
conventional street network by contrast often includes a framework of widely-
spaced arterial roads with limited connectivity provided by a system of large
blocks, curving streets and a branching hierarchical pattern often terminating in
cul-de-sacs and is characteristic of automobile dominant systems.

Traditional Network Conventional Network

Traditional and conventional networks differ in three easily measurable respects:

(1) block size, (2) degree of connectivity and (3) degree of curvature. While the
last does not significantly impact network performance, block size and
connectivity create very different characteristics.
Advantages of traditional networks include:

o Distribution of traffic over a network of streets, reducing the need to widen

roads;
o A highly interconnected network providing a choice of multiple routes for
travel for all modes, including emergency services;
o More direct routes between origin and destination points, which generate
fewer vehicle miles of travel (VMT) than conventional suburban networks;
o Smaller block sizes in a network that is highly supportive to pedestrian,
bicycle and transit modes of travel;
o A block structure that provides greater flexibility for land use to evolve over
time.

It is important in TND networks to have a highly interconnected network of streets

with smaller block sizes than in conventional networks. Two ways to ensure that
these goals are achieved are have a Connectivity Index of at least 1.4, and
creating block size with a perimeter of approximately 1,320 feet and block sides
no longer than 500 feet. If a block side exceeds 600 feet, a mid-block pedestrian
path should be provided.

The Connectivity Index is calculated by dividing the number of links by the

number of nodes. All street intersections and cul-de-sacs count as nodes.

242 Links/146 Nodes = Connectivity Index of 1.66

C.4 Thoroughfare Types

Section C Highway Function and Classification in Planning Chapter 1 contains

the conventional classification system that is commonly accepted to define the
function and operational requirements for roadways. These classifications are
also used as the primary basis for geometric design criteria.

All of the factors, traffic volume, trip characteristics, speed and level of service, in
the functional classification system are related to the mobility of motor vehicles;
these factors do not provide for or address bicyclists or pedestrians; and do not
consider the context or land use of the surrounding environment. This approach,
while appropriate for high speed rural and suburban roadways, does not provide
designers with guidance on how to design for a pedestrian supportive
environment or in a context sensitive manner.

The thoroughfare types described here provide mobility for all modes of
transportation with a greater focus on the pedestrian. The functional classification
system can be generally applied to the thoroughfare types in this chapter. What
designers should recognize is the need for greater flexibility in applying design
criteria based more heavily on context and the need to create a safe environment
for pedestrians, rather than strictly following the conventional application of
functional classification in determining geometric criteria.

General Principles
a. The Thoroughfares are intended for use by vehicular, transit, bicycle, and
pedestrian traffic and to provide access to Lots and Open Spaces.
b. The Thoroughfares consist of vehicular lanes and Public Frontages. The lanes
provide the traffic and parking capacity. Thoroughfares consist of vehicular
lanes in a variety of widths for parked and for moving vehicles. The Public
Frontages contribute to the character of the Transect Zone. They may include
swales, sidewalks, curbing, planters, bicycle paths and street trees.
c. Thoroughfares should be designed in context with the urban form and desired
design speed of the Transect Zones through which they pass. The Public
Frontages that pass from one Transect Zone to another should be adjusted
accordingly.

The terms for thoroughfare types that are used fin Traditional Neighborhood
Design include:

HW-Highway
A Highway is a long-distance, high-capacity and high-speed thoroughfare that
connect cities and towns. A Highway should have infrequent intersections and
driveway entrances, and should have sidewalks and abutting buildings buffered
by landscape where possible; otherwise it becomes strip development which
interferes with traffic flow and pedestrian comfort.
Highway frontages may have curbs or open swales drained by percolation. They
have no parking. Buildings may front a wide sidewalk or be set back. Highways
can be rural linear parks, with a median and naturalistic landscaping and bicycle
and pedestrian paths traversing the landscape independently.

RD-Road
A Road is a local, slow-movement thoroughfare suitable for less urban transect
zones. Roads provide frontage for low-density buildings with a substantial
setback. Roads have narrow pavement and open swales drained by percolation,
with or without sidewalks. The landscaping may be informal with multiple species
arrayed in naturalistic clusters.

ST-Street
A Street is a local, multi-movement thoroughfare suitable for all urbanized
transect Zones and all frontages and uses. A Street is urban in character, with
raised curbs, drainage inlets, wide sidewalks, parallel parking, and trees in
individual or continuous planters aligned in an allee. Character may vary
somewhat, however, responding to the commercial or residential uses lining the
Street.

DR-Drive
A Drive is a local movement thoroughfare along the edge of a wide right-of-way
or an open space. One side of a Drive may have the urban character of a Street
or Boulevard with sidewalk and buildings; the other side may have the qualities of
a parkway such as along a railroad track with naturalistic planting. Alternatively, a
Drive may have an urban character with landscape and formal planting, such as
along the bayfront or riverfront.

AV-Avenue
An Avenue is a limited distance, slow or free-movement thoroughfare connecting
proximate locations within an urbanized area. Unlike a Boulevard, in its truest
form, an avenue’s length is finite and its axis is terminated. It always has a
substantial planted median. An Avenue may be conceived as an elongated
square.

The Avenue is appropriate for the approach to a civic building. At urban centers,
the median may be wide enough to hold monuments and even buildings. In
residential areas, the median may be planted naturalistically to become a
parkway or green.

Avenue Frontages have raised curbs drained by inlets and wide sidewalks
separated from the vehicular lanes by narrow continuous planters, preferably
with parking on both sides. The landscaping consists of a single tree species
aligned in a regularly spaced allee in individual or continuous planters.

BV-Boulevard
 A Boulevard is a long-distance, high capacity multi-movement Thoroughfare,
outside of neighborhoods and at neighborhood edges. A Boulevard may be lined
by parallel parking, with wide sidewalks, and trees in continuous or individual
planters.

Boulevards may have central or side medians with slip roads. Side medians
segregate slower traffic and parking activity at the edges from through traffic at
the center.

Boulevards have sidewalks with raised curbs along both sides, drainage by
inlets, parallel parking, sidewalks, and trees aligned in a regularly spaced allee in
individual or continuous planters.

PP-Pedestrian Passage
A Pedestrian Passage is a narrow connector restricted to pedestrian use and
limited vehicular use that passes between buildings or between a building and a
public open space. Passages provide shortcuts through long blocks and connect
rear parking areas with frontages. In T3, Pedestrian Passages may be unpaved
and informally landscaped. In T4, T5 and T6, they should be paved and
landscaped and may provide limited vehicular access. When in civic zones,
passages should correspond with their context and abutting transect zones.

AL-Alley
An Alley is a narrow vehicular access-way at the rear or side of buildings
providing service and parking access, and utility easements. Alleys have no
sidewalks, landscaping, or building frontage requirements. They accommodate
trucks and dumpsters, and may be paved from building face to building face, with
drainage by inverted concrete crown. In older residential neighborhoods Alleys
may be unpaved.

NOTE TO TEAM: Is more language needed in this section Planning, including a

defined process for proper planning?

D DESIGN PRINCIPLES

[Discussion of the principles used in designing TND projects will be covered.]

D.1 Introduction/Definitions

D.2 Design Process

D.3 Design Speed

Add introduction text.

Movement types describe the expected driver experience on a given thoroughfare. The
design speed for pedestrian safety and mobility established for each of these movement
types.

o
NOTE TO TEAM: Please provide feedback on terms and speed ranges

Movement Types
Yield: Drivers must proceed slowly and with extreme care and must yield in
order to pass a parked car or approaching vehicle. Functional equivalent of traffic
calming. Design speed of 20 mph or less; this type can accommodate bicycle
routes.

Slow: Drivers can proceed carefully with an occasional stop to allow a pedestrian
to cross or another car to park. Drivers should feel uncomfortable exceeding
design speed due to presence of parked cars, enclosure, tight turn radii, and
other design elements. Design speed of 20-25 mph; this type can accommodate
bicycle routes.

Free: Drivers can expect to travel generally without delay at the design speed;
street design supports safe pedestrian movement at the higher design speed.
This movement type is appropriate for Thoroughfares designed to traverse longer
distances or that connect to higher intensity locations. Design speed of 25-30
mph; this type can accommodate bicycle routes.

Speed: Drivers can expect travel similar to conventional street design, but with
continued emphasis on pedestrian safety and comfort. Design speed of 30-35
mph. Bicycle safety to be assessed by Thoroughfare.

High: Conventional street design in which drivers can expect a separation of

modes--e.g. bike lanes, walking -- allowing automobile travel unimpeded by
pedestrians or walkability concerns. This movement is rarely used in traditional
town planning but may be needed when traveling outside of pedestrian areas.
Bicycle safety to be assessed by Thoroughfare.

D.4 Context Zone

Application of standards/criteria by Context Zone
E URBAN ROADSIDE or PEDESTRIAN REALM

[Urban roadside is the space between the face of building or R/W line to the curb face,
also known as “public frontage”.]
E.1 Introduction/Definitions
E.2 Edge Zone

E.3 Furnishing Zone

E.4 Walking/Pedestrian Zone

Reference CHAPTER 8 – PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES

Pedestrian comfort should be a primary consideration of Thoroughfare design

and dimensions. Design conflict between vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian
movement should be decided in favor of the pedestrian.
 E.5 Frontage Zone

CHAPTER 3 – GEOMETRIC DESIGN

F TRAVELED WAY

[The traveled way is the central part of the thoroughfare between the curb faces where
vehicle movement and on street parking occurs.]

F.1 Introduction/ Definitions

F.2 Travel Lanes

Adequate design to accommodate emergency services, waste collection, delivery

trucks

Emergency response activities noted in D.3.d Emergency Response—CHAPTER

1 – PLANNING

Alleys and narrow roadways that act as shared spaces can have design speeds
as low as 10 mph, as noted in CHAPTER 16 – RESIDENTIAL STREET DESIGN

F.3 Medians

(Pedestrian Refuge Islands)

F.4 On Street Parking

Ensure that on street parking does not conflict with the placement of any
neighborhood traffic control devices, as addressed in CHAPTER 15 – TRAFFIC
CONTROL DEVICES.
 F.5 Mid-Block Crossings

F.6 Access Management

F.7 Design Vehicles

F.8 Bike Lanes

Reference: CHAPTER 9 – BICYCLE FACILITIES

Bicycle use of thoroughfares should be as follows: Bicycles and vehicles may

share use of lanes on Thoroughfares with design speed of twenty five (25) mph
or less and should not share use of lanes on Thoroughfares with design speeds
of more than 25 mph. Thoroughfares may include dedicated Bicycle Lanes.
Greenways, waterfront walks and other Civic Spaces should include Bicycle
Lanes.

Bicycle Lanes may be made part of Thoroughfares that have sufficient paving
width to accommodate bicyclists’ safety. A City-wide bicycle plan may designate
an interconnected network serving bicyclists with a series of routes that include
Bicycle Lanes as well as Bicycle Routes that give bicycles priority, such as those
Thoroughfares which parallel major corridors and which can be reconfigured to
limit conflicts between automobiles and bicycles.

G INTERSECTIONS

G.1 Introduction/Definitions

G.2 Sight Distance

Reference CHAPTER 3 – GEOMETRIC DESIGN, Look at additional

language from AASHTO 2004 Flexibility in Highway Design

G.3 Curb Return Radii

 G.4 Turn Lanes

G.5 Cross Walks

Reference CHAPTER 8 – PEDESTRIAN FACILITIES

G.6 Curb Extensions

H GENERAL

Additional issues for further discussion and consideration, with examples of treatments,
identify existing projects for review, pictures, graphics, and reference documents

I OTHER SOURCES

REFERENCES
The following is a list of the publications used in the preparation of this chapter: