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Safer Roadways: A Complete Streets Guide
are also responsibilities with providing access—ensuring the impact of the street and those traveling through do not substantially damage these resources. Opportunities to experience natural and scenic areas are not just limited to actual wilderness. Some projects will have opportunities through design to plant or preserve native vegetation, allow for views of lakes, streams, and the Gulf of Mexico, and a change of scenery with a trip through rural areas. Project planners and engineers should consider the branding of streetscape elements to reinforce the environmental and scenic significance of the area. Constrained Roads The Comprehensive Plan constrains some roads that cannot be widened further due to neighborhood or business impacts, adopted community plans, policy, environmental, or right-of-way constraints. When pursuing an improvement on a constrained road, consider the factors that may have been used to constrain it. These considerations can help ensure that the street is designed with consideration to the constraint, while also being appropriate to context. The factors can be understood as follows: Neighborhood and Business Impacts – If the widening of a road will result in the loss of significant numbers of businesses. These impacts may result in the widening project being contrary to the land use goals of the area. Adopted Community Plans – If the road widening makes any of the goals of affected community plans unattainable. A review should be conducted to ensure that the project does not conflict with placemaking, land use, or public health goals of the affected Community Plans. Policy – If the road widening results in detrimental impacts on major expected users, such as increased crossing distance. These impacts may result in the road widening project undermining the planned purpose of the area through which the road passes. Environmental Impacts – If the widening of a road will result in any impacts to protected environmental land or Significant Wildlife Habitat. These impacts, regardless of whether they can be mitigated, may result in the loss of habitat diversity or in a reduction in the level of service for park and recreation facilities. Right-of-Way Constraints – If the widening of a road will result in excessive right-of-way acquisition costs or in unavoidable impacts to important cultural assets, such as cemeteries or historical resources. These impacts indicate an inefficient allocation of limited resources or permanent impacts to irreplaceable community assets. Chapter Three includes a section, “Planning for Complete Streets in Limited Rights-of-Way,” that provides guidance on how to select elements based upon expected users of a street. Road Diet Road diets are an effective strategy for streets which have excess motor vehicle capacity or excessively wide travel lanes. Road diets may include narrowing wide travel lanes to provide or enhance active transportation modes, often referred to as Lane Narrowing. Or, eliminating through vehicular travel lanes, often referred to as Lane Repurposing. Either
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