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West of Scotland Chapter event (20.05.10): Designing Streets

Chapter Convener John Walls reports

In May members enjoyed an informative talk on Designing Streets by Elaine Barrie, Associate Director, WSP Consultants. Elaine started by observing that Road Layout Guidance dating back to the 60s had stifled innovation and caused delays to development. Of particular concern, the Guidance was not people-oriented and the results often compromised safety where pedestrians had to contend with wide sightlines to check whether there was traffic approaching. In addition, the approach failed the defensive space ideal by creating rat-runs and speeding traffic where roads were not overlooked.

Designing Streets, the guidance released by the Scottish Government in March this year, is all about creating attractive places through shared surfaces. This not only provides better functionality but also gives places more of a ‘buzz’.

Evidence-based
Elaine noted that the way had been paved by PAN 76 in 2005. However, this Planning Advice Note failed to impress roads engineers. Research showed that this was due to its lack of an evidence base. The new Guidance has been developed from the English Manual for Streets produced in 2007. However, crucially, the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS) played a key role in developing the new Guidance for Scotland. Extensive consultations were carried out which resulted in a crisp user-friendly 70-page document which has the advantage of being evidence-based.

The key aims of the new guide are to facilitate the design, construction, adoption and maintenance of new residential and lightly trafficked streets. In particular, it aims to assist in the delivery of streets that help to strengthen communities by being pleasant, safe and attractive as well as cost-effective to construct and maintain. A positive new factor is that the Guidance expects users to be responsible for their actions reflecting the fact that local authorities cannot be aware of everything.

A useful aspect of the Guide is that it spells out the important qualities of successful design which are helpful both to the planner and the engineer. These are too detailed to go into in this article, however, Elaine advised that the main changes to current practice arising from the new guidance involve:
• emphasis on collaborative working - e.g planning and road construction consent should done in parallel;
• placemaking with more emphasis on the environment and sustainability;
• pedestrians and cyclists at the heart of the design process;
• encouraging innovation and local distinctiveness;
• street layouts informed by building positions; and
• advocating reduced street clutter, design speeds <20 mph, and reduced signing and road markings.

Elaine’s presentation accompanying this article will provide the reader with a fuller account - see web-link below - and thanks to Elaine are in order for an excellent night!

One final point, President Ann Skippers joined the Chapter for this event during her visit to the West of Scotland. It was clear that the subject was close to her heart and she enjoyed meeting with members at a regular Chapter meeting.

For a copy of Design Streets view here

To see Elaine Barrie's presentation view here

To return to Scottish Planner Extra June 2010 contents page (RTPI Members only), close this window or click here

Author:

James Henderson

Publisher:

The Royal Town Planning Institute

Date:

24-Jun-10

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