Cul-de-sacs verboten?: Tim Kaine and Roman Polanski on dead-end streets

As you may have heard in yesterday's Planetizen Podcast, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine doesn't like cul-de-sacs. Most news reports on the story have claimed that the state is "forbidding," "banning," or even "outlawing" the cul-de-sac. In fact, Virginia municipalities can still design, build, and approve any road patterns they wish, but the State will no longer agree to foot the bill for the ongoing maintenance of cul-de-sacs. The news item came up in a staff meeting yesterday and one colleague told us that a friend he was having dinner with declared the move "Un-American!"

3 minute read

March 31, 2009, 8:20 AM PDT

By Jess Zimbabwe @jzimbabwe


As you may have heard in yesterday's Planetizen Podcast, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine doesn't like cul-de-sacs.

Most news reports on the story have claimed that the state is "forbidding," "banning," or even "outlawing" the cul-de-sac. In fact, Virginia municipalities can still design, build, and approve any road patterns they wish, but the State will no longer agree to foot the bill for the ongoing maintenance of cul-de-sacs. The news item came up in a staff meeting yesterday and one colleague told us that a friend he was having dinner with declared the move "Un-American!"

In a brilliant stroke of spin, Virginia is not posing the new legislation as a regulation that hinders individual or municipal liberties, but rather as a cost- and time-saving measure. By not having to send unwieldly maintenance and emergency vehicles up any future cul-de-sacs (or along the crowded arterials that carry every trip made from a cul-de-sac dominated subdivision), the state can respond faster to emergencies and save boku bucks on road maintenance.

My favorite news story on the subject is this one, mostly because the reporters talked to a lawyer for Biscuit Run, a hilariously named new development just outside of Charlottesville. Steven Blaine, an attorney for the Biscuit Run developer, fell into much of the same argument against cul-de-sacs that new and old urbanists alike have been using for years: "we
want to make it easy for people who live in the community to get from
one part of the community to the other."
The brilliance of the Virginia arguments are that they are difficult to
oppose on a libertarian ground..."so, you want to have the liberty to
live on a cul-de-sac? Then, I assume you're also happy paying higher
taxes for the road maintenance and service, yes?" Tim Kaine makes the new urbanist arguments look somehow namby pamby, even while he accomplishes their objective.

If an editorial is more your style on this subject than a bland news article--even one about Biscuits and Running--than news, this commentary has some pretty funny hyperbole and a great accompanying photo. The author here captures my own annoyance at the opponents of this policy who claim that they prefer living on a cul-de-sac because _it's safer_. The Virginia Home Builders and others seem to believe that their children can frolick in the cul-de-sac without ever encountering danger. They forget about the social dangers of isolation and the health dangers of extraordinary commutes, but, as Tim Kaine points out, they're also forgetting about how much longer emergency rescue vehicles muct sit in traffic in a cul-de-sac-heavy road network.

Luckily for us, Roman Polanski has already made a farce of this "safety" notion with his 1966 film, Cul-de-Sac. I've never seen it, but it appears to be a pretty subversive sexual study of what happens when two criminals on the lam crash at a couple's beachfront mansion, at the end of...of course...a cul-de-sac. Nextflix queue, ho!

 


Jess Zimbabwe

Jess Zimbabwe is the Principal of Plot Strategies. She served until recently for ten years as the founding Director of the Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership—a partnership the National League of Cities (NLC) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). The Center’s flagship program was the Daniel Rose Fellowship, which brought the mayors and senior leadership teams of 4 cities together for a year-long program of learning from land use experts, technical assistance, study tours, leadership development, and peer-to-peer exchange.

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Close-up of "Apartment for rent" sign in red text on black background in front of blurred building

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program

Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

April 21, 2025 - Housing Wire

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

5 hours ago - Diana Ionescu

Ken Jennings stands in front of Snohomish County Community Transit bus.

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series

The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

April 20, 2025 - Streetsblog USA

Close-up of white panel at top of school bus with "100% electric" black text.

Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation

California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.

2 hours ago - California Air Resources Board

Aerial view of Freeway Park cap park over I-5 interstate freeway in Seattle, Washington at night.

Congress Moves to End Reconnecting Communities and Related Grants

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee moved to rescind funding for the Neighborhood Equity and Access program, which funds highway removals, freeway caps, transit projects, pedestrian infrastructure, and more.

3 hours ago - Streetsblog USA

"No Thru Traffic - Open Streets Restaurants" sign in New York City during Covid-19 pandemic.

From Throughway to Public Space: Taking Back the American Street

How the Covid-19 pandemic taught us new ways to reclaim city streets from cars.

4 hours ago - Next City