PLAN 673 – Term Project DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION Addressing Sprawl - Induced Gridlock Rock Prairie Street and Longmire Drive
Avinash Shrivastava, Wen Hao Li, Yun Yin
EXISTING CONDITIONS ASSESSMENT
Geographic Location:
Site Boundary and Dimensions: SIDE
STREET NAME
CLASSIFICATION
STRETCH
North
Ponderosa Drive
Minor Collector
0.8 mi.
Birmingham Road
Minor Collector
0.4 mi.
Arnold Road
Minor Collector
0.4 mi.
East
Longmire Drive
Major Collector
0.6 mi.
West
Rio-Grande Boulevard
Major Collector
0.6 mi.
Major Streets
Longmire Drive Rock Prairie Road
Major Collector Major Arterial
0.7 mi. 0.6 mi.
South
Existing Land-Use Map:
LAND-USE
PUBLIC
RESIDENTIAL TOTAL
ACTIVITY COMMERCIAL OFFICE OTHER RELIGIOUS PARKS SINGLE-FAMILY MULTI-FAMILY
Residential Density Map:
TOTAL AREA 1558543 428112 205945 1184736 2587471 1568408 2016971 9550186
AREA IN % 16.32% 4.48% 2.16% 12.41% 27.09% 16.42% 21.12% 100%
TOTAL AREA IN %
62.46%
37.54% 100%
Major Thoroughfare:
Street Classification:
Major Arterial – Rock Prairie Road
Major Collector – Longmire Drive
Local street
Thoroughfare Characteristics: CLASSIFICATION OF STREETS Major Arterial Major Collector (Longmire Drive) Major Collector (Rio Grande Blvd.) Minor Collector (Ponderosa Drive) Minor Collector (Birmingham Road) Local
SIDE WALK WIDTH CHARACTER Two Sided 4 ft.
BIKE LANE CHARACTER WIDTH None -
NO.OF LANES 5
WIDTH OF LANE 10’ X 5
3
10’ X 3
Two Sided
4 ft.
Two Sided
3 ft.
3
10’ X 3
Two Sided
4 ft.
Two Sided
3 ft.
3
10’ X 3
Two Sided
3 ft.
None
-
3
10’ X 3
One Sided
3 ft.
None
-
1+1 Parking Lane
10’ X 1
None
-
None
-
Existing Issues: • Pedestrian Issues related to, i.
crossings (pedestrian) on streets, access points (parking) and intersections.
ii.
walk-ability and safety.
• Discontinuous or no bike lanes. • Transit related issues. • Parking problem (On & Off Street). • Excessive Access Points on Major Thoroughfare. • Vehicular Congestion. • Vehicular Gridlock at Street Intersection – Longmire Drive and Rock Prairie Road.
Issues: Pedestrian Crossing, Walk-ability and Safety • Safety: No pedestrian crossings on major thoroughfares like ‘Arterials’ and ‘Collectors’. This encourages ‘jaywalking’, making these streets very unsafe for pedestrians. • Too many parking access points breaks the sidewalk continuity. It also create conflict points, which in turn makes the street more prone to accidents.
Issues: Pedestrian Crossing, Walk-ability and Safety •
Uni-directional signal, for pedestrian crossovers, at street intersection.
• Discontinuous or no sidewalks on highly used Local streets. This affects pedestrian walk-ability thus giving rise to safety issues.
Issues: Pedestrian Crossing, Walk-ability and Safety Efficiency: Due to discontinuous or no sidewalks on most of the local streets, the walk-able distance from one facility to the other increases considerably. As a result, • people prefer driving cars over walking – auto dependency increases. • ‘jaywalking’ on major streets becomes a common phenomenon in order to reduce the walking distance – unsafe street environment for pedestrians.
Walking distance between two facilities
Path of a pedestrian
Issues: Bike-ability and Safety •
Safety: Discontinuous or no bike lanes on highly used Local streets as well as major thoroughfare push bicyclists to ride bikes either on sidewalks or on the vehicular lanes. This affects pedestrians (walk-ability), bikers (bike-ability) and motorists on the major streets, thus giving rise to safety issues.
Issues: Bike-ability and Safety •
Excessive parking access points breaks the bike lane continuity. It also create conflict points which in turn makes the street more prone to accidents.
Parking (On and Off Street)
Issues: Vehicular Congestion The following are some of the reasons for vehicular congestion on streets. • Inappropriate Land-Use • High Speed thoroughfare • Excessive Access Points
Ex: Commercial
Issues: Vehicular GRIDLOCK at Street Intersection: Longmire Street and Rock Prairie Road
GRIDLOCK!!!
DEVELOPING A ‘FORM BASED CODE’
Some of the major Issues addressed and dealt through Form-Based Codes are, • Resolving Gridlock Issues at Street Intersection • Minimizing Traffic and Vehicular Congestion • Pedestrian and Bike friendly Design • Limiting (regulating) High Speeds • Mixed-Use and Compact Development
Gridlock at Street Intersection, and Traffic Congestion: Issues: • Current Land-Use is such that it attracts
vehicular traffic. • Only one access point to Highway-6. • Too many access points to the off-street parking lots. • Street network - limited choice.
Probable Solutions: • Land-Use: By supporting mixed-use and compact development, thus increasing density. • Highway-6: By increasing access points. • By decreasing parking access points, supporting shared parking and parking multi- story parking garages. • Adding and thus enhancing street network.
Pedestrian and Bike Friendly Design: Issues: • Missing Sidewalks and Bike lanes
• No Pedestrian Crossings • One-way signal, at the intersection, for pedestrians. • High speed limits on Minor & Local Streets
Probable Solutions: • Adding Sidewalks and Bike lanes • Introducing Pedestrian Crossings • Two-way signal, at the intersection, for pedestrians. • Limiting speed by re-defining Arterials and Collector Streets into Avenues and Boulevards.
Limiting (regulating) High Speeds: Issues: • High speed limits on Major, Minor and Local Streets
Probable Solutions: • By re-designing existing Arterials and Collector Streets into Avenues and Boulevards. • By limiting speeds to 20~25 mph. • By increasing road capacity.
Proposed General Plan and District Organization: Transect District •T3-Suburban Zone •T4-General Urban Zone •T5-Urban Center Zone
Proposed General Plan and District Organization: Pedestrian Precinct in a Quarter-Mile (radius) Neighborhood
Proposed General Plan and District Organization: Plan for Parks, Civic Center and Open Spaces
Proposed General Plan and District Organization: Street Regulating Plan
Proposed General Plan and District Organization: Parking (Off-Street) Plan
Parking Solutions: • Shared Parking •Multi- Storied Parking Garages • Quarter-Mile (radius) Parking Service Area • On-Street Parking
Proposed General Plan and District Organization: Overview of Study Area
Proposed Building Regulation Plan: Key Parameters • Building form shall focus primarily on the context (street), thus enhancing a building-to-street relationship. This allows for multiple ways to use a space, and encourages different uses to exist cohesively. • Building character shall be in accordance with different building codes in different transect zones. • In Transect Districts T4 and T5, buildings shall be designed such that it creates (and supports) pedestrian friendly environment along with satisfying building frontage requirements. • Building heights shall be restricted such that it provides enough visibility and sunlight to the street. The ratio of the building height to the street width shall be from 1:2 to 1:4.
Proposed Building Regulation Plan: Building Disposition • Buildings shall be placed within the area which fits into specific zoning requirement as shown in Table 3A. • Buildings shall have facades along the frontage lines, and elevation along the lot lines. • The facades and elevation of the building shall be at a distance from the lot lines and the frontage lines as shown in Table 3A .
Proposed Building Regulation Plan: Building Heights
• All building heights shall be measured in number of stories. • The maximum height, for each floor, shall be 14-15 ft. from the floor to the ceiling. • The height shall be measured from the ground to the roof.
Land use
Proposed Building Regulation Plan: Building Standards T3 Building Height Principal Building
Lot Occupation
Building Setback
T4
T5
3 Stores Max
4 Stories Max.
5 Stories Max.
Out Building
2 Stories Max.
2 Stories Max.
2 Stories Max.
Lot area
10,000 sq. ft. avg.
2,500 sq. ft. avg
1,500 sq. ft. avg
Lot Coverage
50% Max.
70% Max.
80% Max.
Front
24 ft. Min.
6 ft. Min., 18 ft. Max.
0 ft. Min., 12 ft. Max.
Side
12 ft. Min.
0 ft. Min, 10 ft. Max.
0 ft. Min., 24 ft. Max.
Rear
12 ft. Min.
3 ft. Min.
3 ft. Min.
70% Min. at Setback
70% Min. at Setback
Frontage
Table 3A
Proposed Street Regulating Plan: Key Parameters Street Network and Connection • This aims to resolve the issues like 1) Vehicular Congestion and 2) Induced Gridlock at Street Intersection. Pedestrian Oriented Design To provide a comfortable walking/pedestrian and biking • environment. •
To design streets that automatically reduces the vehicular speeds (20-25 mph) on the major streets like Arterials, Collectors as well as Locals, making is safer and pedestrian friendly.
•
To re-define the size of the neighborhood – Quarter Mile radius Walk-Sheds so that people can easily walk to the Neighborhood Center.
Proposed Street Regulating Plan: Street Network Design The approach – to resolve the key issues i.e. 1) vehicular congestion and 2) induced gridlock at street intersection – primarily focuses on ‘street network design’ and ‘adding new access points’ to Highway-6. 1) Street Network Design i.e. a) Extending existing streets, b) Proposing new streets, AND 2) Adding new access points to HW- 6 • improves distribution of Traffic flow i.e. Circulation • enhances street network and connectivity
• provides an alternative choice of entry/exit to the highway.
Proposed Street Regulating Plan: Pedestrian Precincts Pedestrians can easily walk to the Neighborhood Center (Commercial District or Open Space) and their safety is assured by the means of Pedestrian-Oriented Design.
Proposed Street Regulating Plan: Other Key Elements in the Street Regulating Plan Traffic Lane Regulations •
The standards for traffic lanes are stated in table 4A.
•
The bike lane shall be provided throughout, along the street length, as mentioned in Table 4A.
•
The standards for On-street Parking are given in Table 4A.
Public Frontage •
Public frontages shall be regulated respectively in different Transect Zones.
•
The sidewalk cafe and canopy shall be encouraged in ‘T4’ or ‘T5’ Transect zones.
•
The streetscape elements like lights and planters shall be elaborately designed and positioned in accordance with different public frontages.
Proposed Parking Regulation Plan: Key Parameters • Parking standards, mentioned in Table 4a, shall be in accordance with different Transect Zones. • On-Street Parking shall be provided according to the specific street designs. • Off-Street Parking shall be provided in the rear or beside the buildings to alleviate vehicular grid-lock at the street intersection, and also to strengthen the relationship between buildings and street. • Shared Parking shall be encouraged. • Bike racks shall be provided in close proximity to the transit bus stops, commercial & retail centers, offices and vehicle parking lots.
Proposed Parking Regulation Plan: On-Street Parking On-Street Parking shall be discussed in the Streetscape Plan.
Off-Street Parking • Four Multi-storey parking structures (garages) along with shared parking, shall be provided in the whole Study Area. • These parking garages shall be located in the T4-General Urban Zone and T5-Urban Center Zone. •Parking Service Area illustrate areas that are accessible at a Quarter-Mile walking distance.
Proposed Street Regulating Plan: Thoroughfare/Parking Standards Thoroughfare Type
Alley
Road
Street
Boulevard
Avenue
Transect Zone
T3
T3
T3, T4
T4, T5
T4, T5
ROW Width
24 ft.
50 ft.
60 ft.
70 ft.
89 ft.
Driving Lane Width
12ft
9 ft
9 ft.
10 ft.
10 ft.
Parking Lane
N/A
N/A
7 ft.
8 ft.
8 ft.
Raised Median Width
N/A
N/A
N/A
12 ft.
12 ft.
Biking Lane
N/A
5ft.
5ft.
5 ft.
5 ft.
Sidewalk
6 ft.
15-18 ft.
13 ft.
8 ft.
8 ft.
Design speed
10 mph
15 mph
20 mph
20-25 mph
20-25 mph
Plants type
N/A
Continuous
Common Lawn
Ball
Ball , Canopy
25 ft.
15 ft.
15 ft.
Swales Curb Radius Public frontage type
25 ft. N/A
25 ft. Residential
Residential
Commercial,
Commercial,
Business,
Residential
Residential
Table 4 a - Thoroughfare/Parking Assembles
Proposed Street Regulating Plan: Landscape/Streetscape Standards T3
T4
T5
Curb
Raised Curb
Raised Curb
Raised Curb
Type/Width
5-20 ft.
5-20 ft.
5-20 ft.
Walkway
Sidewalk
Sidewalk
Sidewalk
Type /width
4-8 ft.
4-8 ft.
12-20 ft.
Arrangement
Regular
Regular
Regular
Species
Alternating
single
Alternating
Planter Type
Continuous
Continuous
Continuous Planter
Planter width
Planter
Planter
4-6 ft.
8-16 ft.
8-12 ft.
Pipe, Post
Post, Column
Plants:
Lights Type
Column, Doublecolumn
Table 4 b - Public Frontage
Existing Street Design and related Issues: Arterials, Collectors and Locals
Existing Street Design and related Issues: Arterials, Collectors and Locals
Existing Street Design and related Issues: Arterials, Collectors and Locals
Proposed Street Design: Avenues, Boulevards, Streets and Locals
Proposed Street Design: Avenues, Boulevards, Streets and Locals
Proposed Street Sections:
Proposed Street Sections:
New Longmire Street: Pedestrian Orientated Design • Awning, Seating, Planter, Lights Building Style • Buildings should be tightly connected to the street through setback restrictions and facade design. • 70% Transparency (Commercial)
Off-street Parking (rear/beside buildings) • Shared Parking and Parking Garages
On-street Parking • Parallel Parking
Proposed Elevation along Longmire Street:
Proposed Thoroughfare Plan:
Proposed Intersection Design at Longmire Drive and Rock Prairie Street:
Proposed Intersection Design at Longmire Drive and Rock Prairie Street:
Achieved Character of Street:
Achieved Character of Street:
Achieved Character of Street:
Achieved Character of Street: