INTEGRATED CORRIDOR PLANNING – AN ANSWER TO BALANCING COMPETING STREET DEMANDS

摘要

Transportation practitioners have been faced with the increased competing demands on busy urban streets for many years. As our streets get more congested, there is an increased focus on ensuring that the needs of street users are equally considered. Transport for London is trialling a new approach called Network Management Planning (NMP) that is looking at how the strategic requirements of the road network including movement can be achieved, whilst addressing all street user needs. The objectives of this new approach are to encourage integrated and holistic outcomes for the street network and to meet the future needs and demands for the anticipated growth in London over the coming years. The Network Management Planning approach considers not only the transportation needs, but takes into account other competing demands within a street environment, including enhancing the urban realm and environmental and other amenity issues. It aims to achieve the right balance for street provision and to contribute to local regeneration and the creation of better streets. Transport for London are developing and trialling a number of tools and techniques, that form part of the Network Management Planning approach. Many of the tools and techniques are based on the principle of Link (a movement conduit) and Place (a destination in its own right), as the two main functions of the street. The Link and Place paradigm has formed the basis to the innovative and fresh approach to the development work behind Network Management Planning. This involved development of a new integrated street planning and design process and new assessment framework, titled Evaluation Framework (EF), which is currently being trialled on five demonstration studies. This paper focuses on the trials of the Evaluation Framework that helps practitioners to understand and prioritise street performance issues, provides a consistent platform for stakeholders to identify and agree a set of design objectives, and assists in balancing competing street demands. Preliminary outcomes of the trials suggest that this street assessment framework provides a good basis for the integration of engineering, planning, environmental and urban design approaches to street design, providing one cohesive solution. In addition, the approach enables better integration of inputs from multidisciplinary practitioners and street stakeholders to achieve benefits for all street users.