"The City of Sacramento, California, recently updated its street design standards. This update was in response to a consistent message from residents that the previous standards did not result in livable neighborhoods, to protests from the development community that standards were too rigid..."

Linking Land Use and Transportation through Street Design

Abstract

The City of Sacramento, California, recently updated its street design standards. this update was in response to a consistent message from residents that the previous standards did not result in livable neighborhoods, to protests from the development community that the previous standards were too rigid, and to city staff's desire to improve the clarity of the design standards to minimize their difficulties in administering the standards.

The city's approach to the update process was unique in several aspects:
* It engaged a broad cross-section of stakeholders) residents, developers, emergency service providers, planners, etc.) to develop the concepts,
* It administered a survey of comparable jurisdictions to determine the range of standards, and
* It conducted field tests of emergency service responses on various street types.

This community-based approach in new standards that blended the community's desire for narrower residential streets with the needs/desires of the emergency response providers, the bicycling community, and urban planners. The city staff helped the participating stakeholders achieve this balanced outcome by: 1) educating the stakeholders on the relevant standards and practices (Uniform Fire Code, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, etc.), and 2) allowing the stakeholders to discuss/debate among themselves so they could better appreciate the difficulties in balancing conflicting interests.
The new standards have the following characteristics:

* More flexibility through choices
* Minimum street widths needed for function and safety
* Cost trade-offs (e.g., rolled curbs with planter strips)
* Greater definition of how the standards should be applied
* Parking and bike lanes on arterials only where needed

Further Reading:

Developing Street Standards that Allow Flexibility