People-Friendly Big Streets

摘要

HTA hosted an evening of stimulating presentations on the theme of redesigning major urban roads as streets. Graham Smith gave an overview of distributor roads, courtesy of the infamous Design Bulletin 32 (DB32). The price tag for these is routinely flagged as an achievement of new development, but they offer nothing related to good urban design or safety for pedestrians and cyclists. The guide refers to 'compact' and 'normal' roundabouts, which means that a normal design is in fact hazardous for pedestrians and cyclists. Graham questioned our better design guides too and asked why we still design for vehicles to overtake which increases risks and reduces capacity.