Complete Streets

摘要

For decades, the purpose and goal of street design in the United States was to move as much motorized traffic as expedi-tiously as possible from point A to point B, regardless of whether the traffic was moving along a major freeway or commercial arterial, or through a city center, village main street, or even a residential neighborhood. Applied speed limits and street design standards would vary from route to route, but in general street design and traffic engineering were all about moving cars and trucks from their origins to their destinations. Even as early as the beginning of the 20th century, officials in New York City mandated the narrowing of sidewalks to create more numerous and wider lanes to accommodate motorized traffic. Pedestrians, planners thought, did not need much room to maneuver.