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Five types of balance
The question arises, what exactly is being
balanced in balanced circulation? Five basic relationships are at issue:
1) transportation and economic development; 2) regional and local needs;
3) operational and capital improvements; 4) modes of transportation; 5)
aesthetic and functional solutions — form as function.
Transportation and economic development.
Balancing circulation addresses the transportation-economic development
relationship in several ways: It balances access and parking for
visitors, workers, residents, and customers with mobility for through
travelers; it provides design elements that balance the consideration of
an economic activity’s setting with its functional transportation needs;
and it offers visibility for business activity in terms of both site
access and operational elements such as wayfinding, street names, and
route signing.
Regional and local needs. The failure to balance
regional and local needs can have a negative effect on transportation.
Too great an emphasis on the regional may result in impaired safety,
access, and setting. Over-emphasizing the local may snarl traffic and
cause short-term environmental and longer term economic damage. In
addition, it can lead to traffic congestion on alternate routes as
drivers search for other options.
Modes of transportation. Balanced circulation
recognizes the importance of both multimodal and intermodal design in
terms of its policy emphasis and its potential to attract capital funds.
Two elements merit particular attention. The first is to recognize the
importance of providing for a system of transportation modes. Isolated
or disconnected facilities are a waste of resources. Second is the need
to apply multimodal and intermodal investment where the demonstrated or
anticipated demand is highest.
Operational and capital improvements. Too often,
capital solutions, which are more costly, less flexible, and require
more time to implement, are viewed as the first action to be taken in
response to transportation concerns. Actually, operational improvements
such as retiming traffic signals, improving sign systems, or modifying
road markings can go a long way toward moderating the behavior of
traffic. Balanced circulation calls for the first step of ensuring that
the transportation system is performing at optimal efficiency. Capital
improvements should be made only when operational adjustments are
insufficient to achieve the desired result.
Aesthetic and functional solutions: Form as
Function. The fact that aesthetic improvements usually provide
functional benefits as well as economic value is often overlooked.
Following are some examples of techniques that enhance aesthetics while
also offering a functional benefit:
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Linear bands of pavers — define the pedestrian
edge along a multimodal corridor.
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Curb extensions — reduce pedestrian crossing
distance, improve signal timing, and minimize the likelihood of
pedestrian-vehicular conflict. They also improve vehicular safety by
increasing sight distance at intersections and enhancing traffic flow.
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Pedestrian-scale lighting — provides a visual
cue to drivers, alerting them to the presence of pedestrians. It also
makes it easier to see pedestrians at night and introduces lateral
clearance factors which reduce the design speed of the roadway.
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Lane narrowing — reduces speed and pedestrian
crossing distance.
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Lower turn radii — also reduce pedestrian
crossing distances, providing signal timing/intersection level of
service benefits.
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Street trees — introduce lateral clearance to
the roadway and provide a visual and physical pedestrian buffer.
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Transit amenities — are actually facilities
supporting a publicly operated investment. This often-used term is a
misnomer. Bus shelters and signing are no more amenities for transit
users than roadway striping and signing are amenities for drivers.
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Gateway treatments — serve an important safety
function by alerting drivers at transition points of changes in land use
and transportation design and by defining the boundaries of unique
districts.
In some instances, aesthetic treatments are
added for the principal purpose of providing an attractive setting for a
particular destination, such as highlighting the view of a downtown, an
entertainment district, a natural feature, or an historic area. Such
sites are important identifiers for an entire region. For such roadways,
aesthetic considerations are as functional an element as carrying
capacity or design speed. Travelers’ perceptions of these locations have
an economic value whether as a first impression or as a repeated
stimulus along a regular driving route.
Safety importance
While transportation is essentially an economic
investment, safety is the paramount consideration when evaluating
transportation needs. A balanced circulation approach, with its emphasis
on existing and potential multimodal environments, shuns the notion that
safety is primarily a vehicular issue. The idea that wider, straighter,
faster roadways are safer is inappropriate in areas where pedestrians
are present. Balanced circulation shares with traffic calming the
concept that slowing traffic reduces the incidence and severity of both
vehicular and pedestrian-vehicular conflicts. The definition of safety
needs depends on the context of the surrounding land use.
One of the chief elements in providing a safe
and balanced transportation system in a mixed-use, multimodal
environment is emergency response. Emergency response vehicles have two
primary needs — to get to the location as quickly as possible and to
provide emergency services, such as fire suppression, once at the scene.
It is critical that emergency response vehicles be able to make
unimpeded turning movements, and that need is addressed as a matter of
course when designing intersection improvements that reduce pedestrian
crossing distances.
It is uniformly agreed that no other
transportation objective outweighs the need to reduce
pedestrian-vehicular conflict. In some areas, safety concerns have
resulted in negative economic pressures, as consumers have gone
elsewhere and real estate becomes more difficult to sell or lease. A
balanced circulation approach seeks to ensure the safety of all travel
modes.
In addition to curb extensions and pedestrian
lighting, other treatments that can reduce pedestrian-vehicular conflict
include: vertical elements that introduce lateral clearance and narrow
the perceived width of the roadway, road texturing and road profile
elements such as speed bumps and speed tables, gateway treatments that
alert drivers to the entrance and exit from areas characterized by
pedestrian travel, and signal timing that reinforces the desired
vehicular speed.
Enforcement of traffic regulations is an
important ingredient in maintaining traffic safety. It is a
transportation design truism that the road informs the driver. Motorists
travel faster on roadways with higher design speeds. Placing a speed
limit sign of 25 miles per hour on a roadway whose design speed is 50
will do little to reduce speeding. The most effective enforcement is a
well-designed roadway whose design and operational elements discourage
high-speed travel. Self-enforcing roadway treatments may include
re-striping travel lanes, constructing curb extensions, placing banner
poles, trees, and pedestrian lights along the roadway, and providing
median or crosswalk treatments.
Balanced circulation approach
The first step in implementing a balanced
circulation approach is to develop a comprehensive, integrated policy.
The rationale for this approach is twofold: first, to improve
intergovernmental coordination; second to maximize internal consistency.
The most important aspect of policy development is the introduction of
predictability and consistency into the process which results in
operational and management decisions, funding strategies, and
infrastructure design. As an added benefit, it initiates a
consensus-building process.
Externally, predictability is an essential
component of intergovernmental coordination. Even if disagreements exist
between public entities as to priorities, understanding each agency’s
position is useful in reaching a consensus. Predictability also is
important when seeking funding, as a well developed policy indicates
that funds will be spent as intended. Internally, predictability
minimizes the likelihood that individuals or businesses will receive
differing treatment from the public agency. It also de-politicizes the
process, assuring that policy is not being used to justify an action or
serve the interest of public officials.
The development of a sound transportation policy
initially affects transportation operations and management. This
element, often omitted from traditional and traffic-calming-based
transportation solutions, can provide a lower cost, more effective
solution, freeing up scarce capital to address critical issues.
For example, speeding traffic may be moderated
by adjusting signal timing rather than placing speed tables or moving
curb lines. Improving wayfinding signs might improve safety as much as
reconstructing an intersection. Other operational components that might
be considered as a first step include: regulatory signs, street name and
route signs, traffic circulation patterns, parking operations, transit
operations, and enforcement of traffic violations. Developing an
approach that requires an operational review not only avoids spending
capital dollars unnecessarily, it may also help attract capital funds
when they are needed, since the argument can be made that funds are
requested only when other options have proved ineffective.
Balanced circulation as an approach to
transportation management does not replace traffic calming any more than
preventive medicine replaces traditional medicine when it comes to
health care. What it does is employ typical calming treatments for
purposes other than the reduction of traffic speed. More important,
balancing circulation encompasses dynamics that previously had been
separated from capital treatments associated with traffic calming.
Balanced circulation considers policy, operations and maintenance,
intergovernmental coordination, and stakeholder outreach to be part of a
holistic approach rather than separate but related elements.
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