Intereseted in Street Standards and will attend the National APA Conference?
You Should Attend:
National Guidance on Street Standards: From AASHTO to NATCO and Beyond
April 15, 2012 7:15 am – 8:30 am
Current federal design guidance for bicycle and pedestrian facilities is over a decade old and does not reflect design practices that are currently becoming more commonplace. As such, new design guidelines are being rapidly developed in the US. As cities are planning for innovative treatments, it is important for municipalities to understand the current status of federal guidelines and standards for bicycle and pedestrian planning. Many current guidelines and standards are currently being updated, with some treatments seen as experimental while others received endorsement status. From a municipal standpoint, it can be difficult to understand what federal guidelines are standards which must be followed and what guidelines are there to provide guidance. This panel will first lay out the legal framework of street design standards and guidelines, while subsequent speakers will present their specific manual, the purpose, the intended audience and legality status.
Case Studies/Research:
UC Berkeley: In late 2010, the UC Berkeley Center for Law, Energy and the Environment released a report “Moving Beyond Prevailing Street Design Standards: Assessing Legal and Liability Barriers to More Efficient Street Design and Function.” This report examined federal, state and local laws and policies governing street design and case law relating to local government liability regarding street design standards. The report summarizes the findings and clearly outlines the legal framework for changing current street design standards.
FHWA MUTCD 2009: The Federal Highway Administration released the 2009 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. The Manual includes many updates to the 2003 edition, especially regarding bicycle treatments and devices. There are also new bicycle treatments that are moving from experimental status towards interim approval. The FHWA representative will outline these treatments and their status.
AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities: AASHTO will soon be releasing the Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities. This is an update to the 1999 guide. This discussion will provide details on this soon-to-be released document and explain how the guidance fits within the 2009 MUTCD.
NACTO Cities for Cycling Project: The recently released (2011) guide, “NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide” provides guidance ‘for cities by cities’ on innovative bicycle treatments, complied with input from representatives in New York, Portland and San Francisco among other NACTO cities. The guide outlines three levels of guidance for bicycle treatments: required, recommended and optional. This document is complimented with an extensive outreach campaign aimed at understanding the barriers and opportunities for cities and states to adopt the guidelines in the manual.
Model Design Manual for Living Streets: In early 2011, nationwide experts assembled in Los Angeles to participate in a two day charrette to write a comprehensive street design manual. This document covers many different aspects of planning for living streets including pedestrian and bicycle facilities. However, it goes beyond transportation design guidance to include aspects of street water management, the public involvement process and place-making. This manual is a publically available document which local municipalities can customize to their own local context. The case study will highlight the participants and how this document is a resource for local communities to customize the guide to their own local context.
Moderator:
Madeline Brozen, Complete Streets Innitiative Director, The Lewis Center
Speaker information:
Hari Kalla, MUTCD Team Leader, Federal Highway Administration
Jennifer Toole, Prinicpal,Toole Design Group
David Vega-Barachowitz, Sustainable Initiatives Program Manager, National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO)
Ryan Snyder, President, Ryan Snyder Associates