§ 27A-503. Street Type Specifications.

The Street type specifications illustrate typical configurations for Street-Spaces within an Urban Center District. The plans and sections specify vehicular travel lane widths, curb radii, sidewalks, tree planting areas, and on-Street parking configurations. They also provide a Comparative Pedestrian Crossing time as a gauge of relative pedestrian crossing-comfort between the various Street types (this measure assumes a pedestrian speed of 3.7 feet per second).

(a)

General Provisions.

(1)

Intent

(A)

Streets are a community's first and foremost public spaces and should be just as carefully designed and planned as any park or public building. The character of the Street-Space—both its scale and its details—plays a critical role in determining the pedestrian quality of a given location.

(B)

Streets shall balance the needs of all forms of traffic—auto, transit, bicycle and pedestrian—to maximize mobility and convenience for all County residents and all users of an Urban Center District. Their character shall vary depending on their location: some Streets shall carry a large volume of traffic and provide a more active and intense urban pedestrian experience while others shall provide a less active and more intimately scaled Street-Space.

(C)

Transportation corridors within an Urban Center District are Streets—not highways, arterials, or collectors—and shall be developed as such to create the type of pedestrian-oriented places described in the General Plan. All neighborhood Street types are designed primarily for walkability and pedestrian comfort, with automobile movement as a secondary focus.

(2)

Principles

(A)

The appropriate design of Streets is one of the most important design elements for an Urban Center.

(B)

To design for continuous free-flowing traffic creates situations where vehicles will travel at speeds greater than desirable for pedestrians.

(C)

With appropriate design techniques, drivers will choose slower speeds and less aggressive behavior, a feat typically not achieved through basic speed limit signage/postings.

(D)

Scale is a threshold design consideration for Street design elements covering everything from signage to crossing distances. In an Urban Center or Corridor Node, the scale should be that of the pedestrian rather than the automobile.

(E)

An interconnected Street network allows traffic capacity to be diffused and maintained across numerous Streets.

(F)

Each Urban Center District shall contain bikeways that lead to the employment, housing, and transit destinations within that district and which provide additional opportunities for urban recreation.

(G)

Larger vehicular corridors can be maintained/located at the edges of the district between Urban Neighborhoods.

(H)

Emergency vehicle access shall be maintained, but with an interconnected Street network, there shall always be at least two routes of access to any lot or parcel.

(I)

Differences between "requirements" and "preferences" can be significant—increased lane width and the accompanying increased vehicle speed more often than not decrease the overall safety for pedestrians.

(J)

On-Street parking slows passing vehicular traffic and acts as a buffer between moving vehicles and pedestrians.

(K)

Overall function, comfort, safety, and aesthetics of a Street are more important than efficiency alone.

(L)

In a pedestrian-oriented area, non-vehicular traffic should be provided with every practical advantage so long as safety is not adversely affected.

(M)

Street design should take into consideration what is reasonably foreseeable, not every situation that is conceivably possible.

(N)

Designing a Street to facilitate (rather than accommodate) infrequent users may actually be the wrong design for the frequent users of the space.

(O)

When the Street design creates a conflict between the vehicular and non-vehicular user, it should be resolved in favor of the non-vehicular user unless public safety shall be truly jeopardized by the resolution.

(3)

Modifications

(A)

The Street configurations may be modified for the strict purposes of forming public open space as required by Part 3. Regulating Plan and Functional Overlays, and Part 5. Urban Space Standards, of this Subtitle.

(B)

Where medians are provided for in these major Street types, they may be modified (enlarged) for urban design purposes during the master planning process. Such modifications shall be subject to approval by the fire marshal and other appropriate agencies if they result in one lane, one-way sections.

(b)

Neighborhood Street Types

(1)

General Provisions

(A)

These are the permitted Street types and configurations within the boundaries of an Urban Neighborhood. They may also be used elsewhere within an Urban Center District.

(i)

Neighborhood Street 1 (NST-1)

(ii)

Neighborhood Street 2a (NST-2a)

(iii)

Neighborhood Street 2b (NST-2b)

(iv)

Neighborhood Street 3 (NST-3)

(v)

Mid-Block Emergency Staging Area configuration

(vi)

Alley-24

(vii)

Alley-30

(B)

The Urban Centers and their neighborhoods are designed to be the ideal complement to good transit service. The Neighborhood Street Types are not configured to provide free-flow bus service as they are not intended for through routes. That is the role of the Major Street Types.

(i)

Bus and Rail transit routes should generally be between and along the Urban Neighborhoods, as determined during the development of a functional transportation network overlay.

(ii)

If the master planning process determines that a transit route should pass through an Urban Neighborhood, the prescribed curb radii for the given Street may be modified at the point of entry and exit for the Urban Neighborhood. Modification is handled through the functional transportation network overlay and is reflected as a note on the regulating plan.

(C)

Within the Urban Neighborhoods, intersections configured as roundabouts are discouraged. They are encouraged at the edges of and between multiple Urban Neighborhoods, where their ability to break up and distribute traffic flow is most appropriate and least disruptive to pedestrian comfort.

(D)

The Neighborhood Street Types are configured such that in-lane bicycle travel is encouraged and appropriate.

FIGURE 23. NST-1

FIGURE 24. NST-2a

FIGURE 25. NST-2b

FIGURE 26. NST-3

FIGURE 27. MID-BLOCK EMERGENCY ACCESS

FIGURE 28. ALLEY 24, ALLEY 30

(c)

Major Street Types

(1)

General Provisions

(A)

These Street types are the preferred standards for the major thoroughfares through and within an Urban Center District. They are intended to border and define the Urban Neighborhoods and are not permitted within an Urban Neighborhood. Modifications to these standards, as proven necessary to accommodate preexisting and/or broader transportation demands, may be made during the master planning process.

(i)

Major Street 1 (M-1)

(ii)

Multi-Way Boulevard 1 (MWB-1, intended for larger, regional roadways)

(B)

Both major Street specifications show rail transit as an option. These are shared lane configurations that allow rail lines to be easily added in the future.

(C)

The Major Street Types provide dedicated bicycle lanes; bicycle travel in the automobile lane is not appropriate or safe.

FIGURE 29. M-1

FIGURE 30. MWB-1

(CB-1-2010)