Traffic Calming
Advocates Push for Tearing Down Freeway Through Olmsted Corridor
Buffalo's Kensington Expressway cut the Humbolt Parkway neighborhood and its Frederick Law Olmsted-designed corridor in half in 1958. Activists are pushing the state to consider tearing it down and replacing it with a pedestrian-friendly boulevard.
How To Design Your Own Speed Bump - In German
A German homeowner is frustrated with the traffic in his neighborhood, so he designs and installs his own speed bump for his street. While there are no English subtitles, the pictures and sounds illustrate the directions and results all too well.
Finland Special: Snow As Traffic Calming Device
Very snowy holiday greetings from Finland, everyone! While here visiting my in-laws and friends, I wanted to take a quick moment and share an interesting observation about the way Finns handle the incessant layers of snow that blanket their chilly winter country. It seems that aside from limited access highways and some primary arterials, the Finnish standard for snow treatment is to plow to a reasonable depth, but not worry too much about an inch or two of snow base layer covering streets. Some streets get sand treatment as well, but salt is used very, very sparingly.
Frappuccino-Colored Streets
Would you slow for beige? Planners in San Francisco hope so, as they plan to differentiate sections of Market St. where they'd like traffic to slow down with 'frappuccino'-colored asphalt.
America's Killer Roads
This oped takes on American street design and blames it for causing countless road injuries and deaths.
Calming Traffic With Zig-Zag Lines
The Virginia Department of Transportation is painting zig-zag lines in the middle of traffic lanes in an effort to get motorists to slow down as they near a bike trail and pedestrian path.
Optical Illusion Speed Bumps Tested in Philadelphia
Optical illusions painted on the streets of Philadelphia are being tested out as a method for getting drivers to slow down.
Best Ideas of the Week
We all know there's a lot of planning going on around the world. Much of it is poor, short-sighted and generally just no good. But there are also some really great ideas being developed and adopted, and they should be considered by cities and communities all over the world as instructive examples of good planning. Here are what I think are some of the best ideas in urban planning from the last week.
Traffic Calmed
This video from StreetFilm shows the extensive traffic calming efforts taken by one beach community in Australia.
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.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Ada County Highway District
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
