Wednesday, July 21, 2010

8.2 Design Speed


Crestline Village is bustling from early morning on into dinnertime. High volumes of traffic daily make the task of providing a pedestrian friendly "main street" a little more challenging. It is achieved through a couple of simple design features/principles. First, posting a lower MPH speed limit generally keeps traffic to a slower speed. Plus it helps that the Mountain Brook Police Department is located right in the middle of the Village. Who would knowingly speed through a high pedestrian and traffic volume area, that houses the MBPD? Secondly, the entire village and surrounding neighborhoods have street parking. The Village has angled parking, making the lanes smaller throughout. The surrounding neighborhoods have on street parking which helps keep travel speeds lower and promotes front yard activities for children and adults alike. Third, there is a specifically placed crosswalk right in the middle of the Village that gives the right of way to the pedestrian, no the automobile. There is no intersection in this location. No traffic light, just a side street and an alley on one side and the other. These three design aspects drastically improve the safety of pedestrians in Crestline Village and the surrounding residential area.

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