Philadelphia's Washington Avenue experienced 915 car crashes between 2010 and 2013. The city wants to minimize risk in its redesign, but lacks the space to install every suggested improvement.
After experiencing a high rate of car crashes, many involving pedestrians, Philadelphia will redesign Washington Avenue. Compromise from a "complete streets" ideal is expected. From the article: "Median islands aren't currently on the table for the Washington Ave redesign, because a turning lane has been planned for that space. As city planner Jeannette Brugger pointed out to Ashley Hahn this fall, when she asked about adding a buffered bike lane, there's only so much space on the street."
A reduction in vehicle capacity is also on the table, which planners hope will curb the street's high accident potential. "Even with just one lane in each direction, a four-way intersection has 32 potential conflict points for vehicles to collide with one another, and 24 potential conflict points for vehicles to collide with pedestrians. So reducing the number of lanes from five to three, as the Planning Commission is proposing, would reduce the number of potential conflict points exponentially and dramatically improve the odds for pedestrians."
FULL STORY: What makes Washington Avenue so dangerous?
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Keanu Reeves Set to Play Daniel Burnham in ‘The Devil in the White City’
Planning is going to get a new level of star power as a limited series adaptation of The Devil in the White City gets ready for television screens in 2024.
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A new book posits that truly successful communities have a strong economic base and a firmly rooted sense of place.
Urban Design Through a Gender Lens
Building cities to be safe and accessible for women and LGBTQIA+ people has benefits for all users of public space.
Sports Stadiums Bring Few Economic Benefits
While their developers often tout jobs and local economic development as benefits of major stadium projects, research shows these venues often make little impact on local economies.
A How-To for ‘Freeway Fighters’
Ten recommendations for effective freeway removal advocacy.
McKenna
Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
Kinexus Group
Cohousing Association of the US
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Rail~Volution
Sun City Center Community Association, Inc
City of Mesa
Town of Gilbert, Arizona
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.
