September 2, 2006
Signs of change
In our meetings with council staff we have pointed out that the Crossroads area has too many traffic signs, and have agreed that 'de-cluttering' would be a good thing.
Statutory notices have now gone up to say that the 20MPH speed restriction zone is to be extended down School Lane and Croft Court, something we have said would be a sensible idea. This presumably means that four poles and signs can be removed from the top of the two roads. Mind you, we have not heard from the council on this matter (has the Parish Council been informed?), so you never can tell what signs might appear in their place.
Also the 30 MPH limit is being extended further along Acaster Lane, something the PC has campaigned about. Good thing too.
You can read one view of 20MPH zones here.
Please use the comment button below to tell us what you think of these changes.
Posted by martin at 8:25 AM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2005
Save our streets
English Heritage has new stuff on its web site, that is worth reading here.
It announces the publication of regional Save our Streets Manuals that:
"provide practical guidance about visual quality for all involved in managing our streets, in particular, for highways staff in local authorities."
"These manuals give practical advice on how to achieve the sort of quality, coherence and distinctiveness which are central to good street design. In particular, we want to encourage highways engineers to pay attention to what makes each region special, its landscape, its use of local building materials and its traditional detailing."
I have ordered a copy of these manuals. You can also download an interesting Department of Transport leaflet about the history of fingerposts used as directional traffic signs. Apparently thay are making a comeback, and you can see a lovely example from the local past below.
Posted by martin at 3:09 PM | Comments (0)
October 4, 2005
Language test
Do you respect public property?
What happens if you have a new open space? Some say that vandals and other inconsiderate people will wreck it - whether it is a bench, a park or garden, a grass verge, a bus shelter or whatever.
Perhaps that's because people don't respect the idea of public property - its not mine, its not yours, but it is ours - and treat it accordingly. But people do look out for the state of the neighbourhoods, and can keep an eye on things, reporting street lighting faults, picking up litter (mainly dropped by school students and from cars).
Our local Council has even carried out a 'ward audit' for Bishopthorpe, and 'issues picked up during the survey passed to the relevant departments' says its newsletter.
Can we have a copy of the audit too?
Anyway, this notion of caring for public space is something that is taken seriously, and here is a fine example of it taken in a park in France. Here, an old man comtemplated a pigeon, a young mum pushed her child around in a buggy, four men repaired a wall and worked on the planting, and a teacher took her class in to show them the plants.
Roughly translated this says 'keep your dogs on a lead'.
Posted by bishopthorpe at 4:30 PM | Comments (0)
May 27, 2005
How does Bishopthorpe measure up?
My attention was drawn recently to a web site called CoolTown Studios that has presented an American town planner/architect's view of neighbourhood planning.
It proposes a thirteen point plan that chimes well with some of the issues here in Bishopthorpe (and Fulford take note!).
1. The neighborhood has a discernible centre. This is often a square or a green and sometimes a busy or memorable street corner. A transit (bus)stop would be located at this centre.
2. Most of the dwellings are within a five-minute walk of the centre, an average of roughly 2,000 feet.
3. There are a variety of dwelling types — usually houses, rowhouses and apartments — so that younger and older people, singles and families, the poor and the wealthy may find places to live.
4. At the edge of the neighborhood, there are shops and workplaces (and/or transit stations leading to workplaces) of sufficiently varied types to supply the weekly needs of a household. (Collective neighborhood edges form a town center.)
5. An elementary school is close enough so that most children can walk from their home.
6. There are small playgrounds accessible to every dwelling - not more than a tenth of a mile away.
7. Streets within the neighborhood form a "connected network, which disperses traffic by providing a variety of pedestrian and vehicular routes to any destination.
8. The streets are relatively narrow and shaded by rows of trees. This slows traffic, creating an environment suitable for pedestrians and bicycles.
9. Buildings in the neighborhood center are placed close to the street, creating a well-defined outdoor room.
10. Parking lots and garage doors rarely front the street. Parking is relegated to the rear of buildings, usually accessed by alleys.
11. Certain prominent sites at the termination of street vistas or in the neighborhood center are reserved for civic buildings. These provide sites for community meetings, education, and religious or cultural activities.
12. The neighborhood is organized to be self-governing. A formal association debates and decides matters of maintenance, security, and physical change. Taxation is the responsibility of the larger community.
13. For single-family homes: A small ancillary building is permitted within the backyard of each house. It may be used as a rental unit or place to work (e.g., office or craft workshop).
The picture shows a pedestrian planned top half and a developers' sprawl at the bottom!
Not bad eh?
Posted by martin at 9:53 AM | Comments (0)
March 14, 2005
Best Value Performance Indicators
Local government is monitored in a variety of ways. Best value indicators for 2005-2006 have been published by government, and Councils have to report on how they met various targets. The following seems entirely relevant to the Crossroads project, which surprising as it may seem, is about an area that largely falls within a Conservation Area.
Character appraisals should be carried out on all new conservation areas as part of the process of designation and regularly reviewed thereafter. Retrospective appraisals for older designations should be a priority. All appraisals should be consistent with guidance published by English Heritage.
‘Up-to-date’ for the purposes of this indicator means within the last 5 years from today’s date.
Local circumstances will determine the order for retrospective appraisals and reviews (which should be at least once every five years). For example, appraisals of areas under the greatest development pressure or whose local character is being eroded by ‘local improvements’ should take precedence.
Community involvement with the designation and management of conservation areas represents best practice and provides an opportunity to develop an environment that attracts economic benefi ts such as inward investment. This should be consistent with the local authority’s statement of community involvement (SCI).
This seems a useful way forward when plans are drawn up for the area.
The full information on the best value indicator can be downloaded here (pdf).
English Heritage publishes detailed guidance on the management
of conservation areas. You can download and read its guidance here.
Posted by martin at 8:23 AM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2005
Too risky?
It is said that fear of crime has a greater effect than crime itself. People prefer to drive their chidren to school - because the roads are full of people driving their children to school as its too risky to let them walk. You can't put seats in a bus shelter used by older people - without a risk that this attracts (the more undesirable) younger people to collect there.
CABE Space, established in 2003, is part of CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, which champions the quality of our buildings and spaces. It has just published a new report What are we scared of? The value of risk in designing public space.
It includes stimulating articles from independnet thinkers, including John Adams who writes on 'streets and the culture of risk aversion'. He says
Fundamentally there is a difference in the way those designing and those using our streets perceive the road.
and goes on to analyse the the impact of risk averse design principles, and makes clear the difficulties of new approaches in the face of rising traffic levels.
To read the whole report, (in pdf), click here.
Posted by martin at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)
January 25, 2005
By our bootstraps
Thanks to my friend Kevin Harris for bringing my attention to the work of a noted Dutch pioneer of road design, Hans Monderman, reported in the New York Times.
Monderman enthuses about changing the way we use open spaces shared by people both in and out of vehicles. He favours stripping away the road signs and markers and creating areas where people are forced to think about where they are and behave accordingly. Apparently his ideas can have a dramatic effect.
You can read more about Monermann in Wired magazine here .
The NYT article also mentions a British exponent of new ways to manage our streets, Ben Hamilton-Baillie. His company web site has useful articles - and some pictures that can show us what's possible here in Bishopthorpe. With Ben's permission, here is an illustration of what is possible.
"CLEVEDON TERRACE, BRISTOL
A typical residential street intersection - large areas of asphalt that are neither safe nor useful. The priority markings ignore the urban context. The proposals will create a small distinctive piece of public space whilst permitting continued movement by cars and larger vehicles."
For more examples - take a look here.
Any thoughts on this - please make your comments known!
Posted by martin at 7:33 PM | Comments (0)
October 19, 2004
English Heritage - York response
Yesterday's Evening Press had a two page spread (pages 10-11) on the English Heritage campaign. It raised the issue of street in clutter in central York, and also questioned the need for 'over-engineered' solutions to traffic management. Our own surveys here in Bishopthorpe (see the article here) reveal that people are concerned about pedestrian safety here, in spite of, or perhaps because of such traffic management installations. I have always thought that traffic calmimg was more about people calming, and it was interesting to see the views aired in the Press article about less is more - "research in Britain and elsewhere suggests that fewer signs and less control allows social and cultural constraints to be more effective." Yes - speeding down Main Street is anti-social behaviour!
Posted by martin at 9:09 AM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2004
English Heritage
Yesterday the news was full of information about English Heritage's Save Our Streets campaign.
The BBC ran the story on TV and radio. On its web site they have started a debate from anyone who has anything to say, and some of the comments already made seem very relevant to what we are trying to do in Bishopthorpe.
The English Heritage campaign is described here, and you can link to examples of 'street clutter'. It gives sensible examples of good practice which you can read below.
Principles of good practice
Ground surfaces
Paving forms the foreground of almost every street scene. Quality in the design and construction of footways and streets surfaces is vital to the character of an area. It provides the context within which the buildings are seen.
• Relate ground surfaces to the local context
• Keep paving simple and avoid discordant colours
• Maintain and restore historic paving and detail such as kerbs
Street furniture
The finest townscapes often have the minimum amount of street furniture. That which is essential is sited carefully to reinforce an underlying sense of visual order.
• Retain historic street furniture which reinforces local character, but identify and remove superfluous or redundant items
• Minimise signage, and locate signs on existing lamp post or buildings, or at the back edge of the pavement
• Use a single dark colour for all items
• Reduce guard rails to a minimum and use designs that relate to the townscape, such as traditional post and rail
• Avoid standardised lighting and choose the design and light source most appropriate for the area
• Wherever possible, eliminate the need for bollards through good design; where unavoidable use designs and materials appropriate to function and context
Traffic management
Traffic calming measures should be fitted sensitively into the street-scene as though they were part of the original design of the area.
• Adopt a minimalist approach. Physical measures should involve minimal visual interference with the established street scene
• Use traditional material such as asphalt and granite setts. Coloured surfaces are usually unnecessary and undesirable and should be avoided
• Confine road markings to those essential for highway safety
Environmental improvements
Environmental improvements should enhance local distinctiveness and reinforce those qualities which make an area special. The most modest schemes are usually the most successful in reinforcing a sense of place and making streets for people. To achieve quality:
• Use a townscape analysis to identify the visual, spatial and historical qualities that make the area special
• Observe local detail in surfaces and street furniture
• Limit formal design to formal spaces; informal or vernacular spaces should follow their functional tradition
• Provide for regular management and maintenance
Street management
No single authority or agency has control over or responsibility for the presentation and management of the street. The impact of roads and traffic on the historic environment can only be minimised if highways and planning authorities are co-ordinated. A managerial approach involving engineers and urban designers is necessary.
• Include clear policies for paving, street furniture and the public realm in development plans and conservation area statements. Local policy and guidance should be based on a detailed understanding of how streets have developed in the past.
• Street audits, carried out jointly by highways and urban design/ conservation staff, will identify surviving historical materials and details.
• Investing in quality will provide enduring value for money. If resources are limited, doing less to a high standard is better than compromising. However, all investment must be protected with adequate provision for maintenance.
• Improve levels of urban design awareness amongst highways staff to ensure routine practice decisions are well informed by principles of best practice.
Posted by martin at 8:26 AM | Comments (0)
September 27, 2004
Lamp standards and standard lamps
I have been reading some documents published by the City of York Council, particularly its Highway Design Guide.
This is a full statement of the objectives and practice, and deserves to be read in detail (although because of the large size of the document you have to download it a chapter at a time which is a real time waster if you have broadband!!).
Here are a few quotes that seem relevant:
New development should preserve or enhance the architectural or historic character or appearance of Conservation Areas and should respect the character and setting of Listed Buildings and of adjacent Conservation Areas.
New development in village Conservation Areas should generally respect the predominant form of the particular village and a standardised approach to highway design and detailing is unlikely to be appropriate. ... the highway must be designed to reflect the character of the area.
The Authority will give due regard to the advice given in PPG 15 – Planning and the Historic Environment. This document highlights ways in which the highway can be dealt with sensitively, including the following:
· limited car access to particular areas;
· providing traffic calming features which reinforce rather than diminish local character, such as by using traditional materials;
· using traditional surfacing materials, such as paving;
· noting that all trees in Conservation Areas are protected;
· preserving street furniture which is of historic or architectural interest, e.g. pillar boxes, telephone kiosks, and railings;
· taking advantage of permitted flexibility in the size, siting and colour of traffic signs, and avoiding a proliferation of signs and markings where possible
· selecting and positioning street lighting equipment appropriate to the age and character of the surrounding area.
Most residents are pedestrians for some of their journeys. They therefore require the opportunity to use safe, direct, secure and visually attractive routes to destinations such as local bus stops, shops, schools, parks and other community facilities, as well as the surrounding countryside.
Although the Guide is aimed at new build developers, it provides a very useful template for the Crossroads project. It is complemented by a Technical highway design drawings and specification, available for download here.
Posted by martin at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)