A quick read on progressive street planning

Published 9:00 am Saturday, January 15, 2005

Is there cooperation in chaos?

That seems to be the theory in some progressive

traffic planning circles, as engineers look for innovative ways by which to reconcile the conflicting sensibilities –

and physical mass – of the motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians sharing urban environments.

As the Winslow Tomorrow planning process proceeds, the city has been using its website (www.ci.bainbridge-isl.wa.us) to assemble an online “reference library” of links to relevant articles and documents. The current fare covers such topics as mobility challenges for older citizens (certainly germane as we plan our downtown), creative financing for municipal projects (surprisingly, less dull than it sounds), and most recently, progressive traffic planning.

Winslow Tomorrow coordinator Sandy Fischer has posted a link to “Roads Gone Wild,” a recent article from Wired magazine that non-motorized advocates and fans of all things continental should enjoy. The piece – a quick and entertaining read, for anyone idling away a weekend afternoon at the computer – explores the recent evolution of traffic engineering, embodied by Hans Monderman, a Dutchman said to be “equal parts urban designer, social scientist, civil engineer, and psychologist.”

The piece looks at several European intersections of Monderman’s design, notably a busy roundabout that features no traffic signals, road signs, or directional markers, yet safely commingles pedestrians, bicyclists and an estimated 20,000 vehicles each day. The theory is that the absence of regulatory signage actually forces all users to slow down enough to gauge each other’s intentions as they proceed through the junction. Other European localities, the article says, have gone so far as to erase lane striping to effect “psychological traffic calming,” to positive results. Even the absence of curbing seems to work in some areas, as motorists are subconsciously coaxed to slow down and heed their surroundings.

We’re not sure the abandonment of separations between street and sidewalk is advisable in these parts – perhaps even more than “speed,” a high percentage of local motorists have yet to master the concept of “spatial separation.” Start counting the number of hit-and-run accidents involving parked cars in the Police Blotter, and shake your head.

But the article does illustrate the overlooked psychological aspect of driver/pedestrian interaction, and suggests that the behavior of both is more nurture than nature. Right of way, while defined in a legal sense, is also to a certain extent a negotiated agreement between the parties involved (as when vehicles arrive at a four-way stop at the same time). When everyone at an intersection pays attention to the intentions and actions of everyone else – eye contact, anyone? – you have an infinitely safer arrangement than “me first, because the sign says so.”

The success of the island’s own roundabout – whose design, it was once widely predicted, would be utterly and dangerously incomprehensible to users – proves that traffic engineering can be at once innovative and sound.

This is not to say that road signs do not have their function. Amusingly, the article’s iconic graphic is itself a sign, of the yellow diamond variety meant to convey cautionary information to motorists. The sign reads simply:

“THINK!”

No doubt we could use a few of those around the island, too.