Creating Walkable Communities - bikewalk.org

1 Creating WalkableCommunitiesA guide for local governmentsPREPARED FOR:Mid-America Regional Council600 BroadwaySuite 300 Kansas City, Missouri BY:Bicycle Federationof AmericaCampaign to MakeAmerica Walkable1506 21st Street NWWashington, 20036D E C E M B E R 1 9 9 8 TABLE OF CONTENTSI ntroductionWhat is the purpose of this report ?What is a Walkable Community ?What are the benefits of Walkable Communities ?What are the challenges to making Communities more Walkable ?Principles of Pedestrian Planning and DesignAbout pedestrians and walkingElements of good pedestrian planningGood road designGuidelines for the Designof Pedestrian FacilitiesDesign principlesThe where and when of sidewalks and walkwaysDesigning sidewalks and walkwaysCornersIntersections and CrossingsSidewalk management and maintenanceOther Design TopicsTraffic CalmingTransitSchool-related issuesTrails and GreenwaysPlanning for Walkable CommunitiesComprehensive plansZoning provisionsSite plans and design reviewRetrofitting existing areas to serve pedestriansSimply click on the topic you would like to report is designed to serve as a tool for local governments andconcerned citizens in the Kansas

2 City region. It presents guide-lines, suggestions, and techniques on how to make Communities morewalkable and 100-plus local governments that make up the Mid-America Re-gional Council represent a very diverse set of Communities : from largeto small, rural to urban, built-out to rapidly growing. Therefore, not allthe guidelines described in this guide will apply to every the other hand, the needs and opportunities-and the benefits-associ-ated with Walkable Communities are similar regardless of the differencesin community is our oldest and most basic form of transportation. Each of usdoes it every day as some part of every trip. At the same time, walkinghas generally received little or no attention in the planning, design, anddevelopment of our Communities .

3 This includes such things as land-useplanning (do we consider the impacts of low-density development on triplength?); zoning (do we encourage mixed land-use and compact develop-ment?); subdivision and site-plan review (do we provide for good accessfor people on foot?); and street and highway design (do we make surethat there will be good, safe places for people of all ages to walk?).There are tremendous opportunities to improve conditions for walkingand in so doing, to make our Communities more livable. This guide isintended to help make our region a place of Walkable 1 provides background information and defines Walkable com-munities. Section 2 covers what is involved in Creating these communi-ties and presents the elements of good pedestrian planning.

4 The detailsof how to make Walkable Communities a reality are covered in sections3, 4, and are various ways to define what we mean by Walkable . Each local community should consider a definition that is appro-priate for itself: how would the residents of your area define Walkable ?The Campaign to Make America Walkable , a national project, hasdeveloped the following statement as a general description of what youmight expect to find in a Walkable IS A WALKABLECOMMUNITY ?TINTRODUCTIONC R E A T I N G W A L K A B L E C O M M U N I T I E S IS THE PURPOSEOF THIS report ?SECTION IWhat is the purposeof this report ?What is a WalkableCommunity ?

5 What are thebenefits of walkablecommunities?What are thechallenges tomaking communitiesmore Walkable ?RETURN TOTABLE OF CONTENTSuPeople of all ages and abilities have easy access to their community on foot -an automobile is not needed for every walk more and the community and neighborhoods are safer,healthier, and friendlier feel comfortable about their children being outside in theirneighborhoods; they don t worry about the threat of motor spend more time outside with other children and are moreactive, physically fit, and and highways are designed or reconstructed to provide safeand comfortable facilities for pedestrians, and are safe and easy tocross for people of all ages and are given priority in neighborhood, work, school, andshopping areas.

6 Motor vehicle speeds are reduced (and, in someplaces, motor vehicles have been eliminated entirely) to ensurecompatibility with pedestrian vehicle operating speeds are carefully controlled to ensurecompatibility with adjacent land uses and the routine presence of motor vehicles operate them in a prudent, responsiblefashion, knowing that they will be held strictly accountable for anythreat, injury, or death caused by their lack of due care or violation ofthe vehicle air and water quality is : Adapted from Campaign to Make America Walkable ,A Vision of a Walkable Community (Washington, DC, 1997).What does a WalkableCommunity Look Like?Figure Example ofGood PedestrianConditions3 C R E A T I N G W A L K A B L E C O M M U N I T I E SCHARACTERISTICS OF A Walkable clear, understandable and organized sidewalk, street and land-usesystem consistent with the scale and function of the surroundingurban context.

7 The sidewalk and street system should link points ofinterest and activity, provide clean lines of sight and travel, andinclude simple instructive pattern of design and usage that unifies the pedestrian balance among transportation modes that will accommodate andencourage pedestrian protection from automobiles and bicycles. Adequate time tocross intersections without interference. Physical separation from fast-moving cars. Signalization protection when crossing and negotiable paving materials for sidewalks and passage on the sidewalk and at corners. Signals timedto enable safe and quick sense of hospitality and suitability for individual and communityinteractions. Sidewalks should provide for a variety of uses andactivities characteristics of the diverse urban opportunity for all individuals to utilize the pedestrian environ-ment as fully as and cost-effectiveness in design and function.

8 Minimumdelay along a walking , efficient and well-maintained surroundings, with adjacentstorefronts and activities that provide sidewalk : Walk Boston, A Pedestrian Perspective on the Central Artery Projectin Downtown Boston: A report by the Pedestrian Issues Task Force(Boston, MA, 1994).To achieve such avision, a communityneeds to address thefollowing R E A T I N G W A L K A B L E C O M M U N I T I E S 4he 1995 Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan1 notes that increasedwalking will help reduce traffic congestion, air and noise pollu-tion, wear and tear on roads, and consumption of petroleum; it willreduce the number of pedestrian-motor vehicle-related crashes, injuries,and fatalities; and it will reduce the need for additional roads, travellanes and parking.

9 The plan also notes that the number of people whoare walking (or riding bicycles) is an important measure of the quality oflife of a Surgeon General issued a report recently that confirms whatmost of us already know: Americans aren t getting enough American Heart Association has listed physical inactivity as thefourth major risk factor associated with chronic disease. And, of greatconcern to public health officials in all parts of the United States, thetrend is getting worse: almost half of all children don t get enoughexercise and nearly one-fourth engage in no form of real public health community is working to encourage Americans tobecome more active, and one of the major focuses of their efforts ispromoting walking.

10 It is inexpensive, it can be done by almost everyone,and-if conditions are right-it can be done almost everywhere. Unfortu-nately, in many Communities today, conditions aren t very good forwalking. In fact, most school-age children do not have a very good, saferoute to walk to school. So public health workers and agencies arelending their support to efforts to create more Walkable (and bicycle-friendly) recent study, Emerging Trends in Real Estate, calls pedestrian-friendlytraditional neighborhood developments (TNDs) the newest market towatch. Sample the attitudes of suburbanites today and you ll find agrowing number who think their lifestyle is becoming more difficult andless appealing. [They are] exasperated by the amount of time spenttrapped in their cars.