Manual for Streets 1

Presentation by Phil Jones

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Manual for Streets 1

The Contribution of Streets
to Successful Places to Live

Birmingham
18 April 2011
Phil Jones, PJA

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What is a street anyway?
 “A street is a highway that has important public realm functions beyond
the movement of traffic” (Manual for Streets)
 Streets have a sense of place and are distinctive
 Streets are lined with and provide direct access to buildings and public spaces
 Most highways in built-up areas can be considered as streets.

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What are roads for?

‘The word ‘road’ derives
from the Old English word for a
journey on horseback: a road was
something that one rode along’

(Dictionary of Urbanism)
‘Roads are essentially highways
whose main function is
accommodating the movement of
motor traffic.’

(Manual for Streets)

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Previous National Guidance on Residential Roads
Design Bulletin 32 Second Edition (1992)

“Residential roads and footpaths are an
integral part of housing layout where ... in the
patterns of movement around buildings the
needs of pedestrians and cyclists for safety
and convenience are given priority in design
over the use of motor vehicles.”

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But highly standardised car-led geometric standards...

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...created highly standardised, car-led layouts...

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“Some housing, such as this, meets planning and highway standards,
but fails to create a sense of place or identity. We need to set our
sights higher”

The Communities Plan - 2003

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Welcome to
The Midlands!!

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Poundbury, Dorset

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New Hall, Harlow

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!Environment and Community
!Character
!Streets, Parking & Pedestrianisation
!Design and Construction

Building for Life - 4 Groups, 20 Criteria
Streets are fundamental to the assessment...

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Group 1 -

Environment & Community
Q4. Does the development have easy access to public transport?

The Village, St Austell

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Group 2 - Character
Q9. Do the buildings and layout make it easy to find your way around?



The Village, St Austell

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Group 2 - Character
Q 10. Are the streets defined by a well-structured
building layout?



The Russells, Broadway, Worcestershire

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Group 3 - Streets, Parking & Pedestrianisation
Q11. Does the building layout take priority over the streets and car
parking, so that the highways do not dominate?

The Meadows, Shepton Mallet
Broadclose, Bude

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Group 3 - Streets, Parking & Pedestrianisation
Q12. Is the car parking well integrated and situated so it supports
the street scene?


Broadclose, Bude, Cornwall Lime Tree Square, Street, Somerset

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Group 3 - Streets, Parking & Pedestrianisation
Q13. Are the streets pedestrian, cycle and vehicle friendly?



Victoria Gardens, Camelford, North Cornwall

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Group 3 - Streets, Parking & Pedestrianisation
Q14. Does the scheme integrate with existing streets, paths and
surrounding development?




The Russells, Broadway, Worcestershire

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Group 3 - Streets, Parking & Pedestrianisation
Q15. Are public spaces and pedestrian routes overlooked and do
they feel safe?




Gwean Pawl Urban Village, Redruth Clay Field, Elmswell, Suffolk

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Streets are the arteries of our
communities – a community’s
success can depend on how well
it is connected to local services
and the wider world.

However, streets are not just
there to get people from
A to B – they have many other
functions.

They form vital components of
residential areas and greatly
affect the overall quality of life for
local people.

(MfS Foreword)
Manual for Streets (2007)

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Aims of Manual for Streets
 Bring about a transformation in quality
 A fundamental culture change to achieve streets that:
– help to build and strengthen the communities they
serve;
– meet the needs of all, by embodying the principles of
inclusive design
–  provide part of a well-connected network;
–  are attractive and have their own distinctive identity;
–  are cost-effective to construct and maintain; and
–  are safe.

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Manual for Streets -
Status and application
 Manual for Streets replaced DB32
 Applies throughout England and Wales
 Focuses on lightly-trafficked residential streets; but
 Many of its principles are applicable elsewhere, eg high streets and lanes
 It is guidance, not a standard or policy document

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Working in partnership
•!Truly multidisciplinary teams: planners, highways
engineers, transport planners, researchers, urban
and landscape designers...

•!Crossing sectors: local people, elected members,
consultants, local authority officers, campaign
groups, utilities, homebuilders…

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Sustainability
 MfS promotes walking, cycling, public transport due to...
– Climate change/emissions
– Congestion
– Accidents
– Health issues
 Labyrinthine and badly connected places encourage car use

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Mode hierarchy
 Consider modes in order:
– Pedestrians
– Cyclists
– Public Transport
– Motor vehicles
 Accommodate all users on streets
 Tight corner radii level crossings

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 Where are the key desire lines?
 How can the development enhance the existing
movement framework rather than disrupt or sever it?
 What points of connection and linkage
can be achieved?
 Should these be for all modes?
 Can concerns over ‘rat running’ be
addressed through slower speeds?

Developing a Movement Framework

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Street Character Types
 Consider
– Key dimensions (widths etc)
– Relationship to buildings and private realm
– Parking
– Materials
– Planting etc
 Terminology important
– Eg avenue, mews, lane, boulevard
– Not Minor Access Road, Local Distributor Road

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Assembling Streets...
 Junctions as places
 Street width considerations:
– Traffic composition
– Pedestrian flow
– Parking
– Width/height ratios
– Swept paths
– Trees
 Designing in three
dimensions

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Visibility
 MfS recommends shorter ‘Y’/forward sight distances
than previous guidance
 No safety case for ‘X’ distance of more than 2.4m
 Can consider splays measured beyond the kerb
Design
Speed
Miles per hour 37 30 25 20
DB32 - Y Distances (Metres) 90 70 45 33
Manual for Streets - Y Distances 59 43 33 25

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Why are reduced visibility splays so critical?
Shorter sight lines helps to make urban development happen:
 Sites that were previously undevelopable can now come forward
 Maximising use of accessible, brownfield sites
 Enabling higher densities
 Less need for unsustainable greenfield sites

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X
Y

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Speed at Junctions and Links
 Speed increases with road width and visibility for both links and junctions

0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 20 40 60 80100120
Y Distance (m)
Speed (mph)
Road Width = 5 m
Road Width = 6 m
Road Width = 7 m
Road Width = 8 m
Road Width = 9 m
Road Width = 10 m
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
0 20 40 60 80100120
Forward Visibility (m)
Speed (mph)
Road Width = 5 m
Road Width = 6 m
Road Width = 7 m
Road Width = 8 m
Road Width = 9 m
Road Width = 10 m
Junction data Link data

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Ingress Park, Essex

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Frontage Access Research
 Accident and Traffic Flow Data
examined for 20 sites
 Traffic flows up to 23,000 per day
 Very few recorded accidents
involving driveways
 No safety justification for limiting
direct access to busier streets

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Local Standards
 Local standards are important to reflect local context
 Local standards need to cover placemaking and urban design
 Focus on improving local distinctiveness
– Vernacular details
– Material choices
 Local authorities are strongly recommended to review
standards and guidance to embrace MfS principles.

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The Lincolnshire Design Guide for
Residential Areas (1996) advocates
the qualities of traditional settlements
over those of recent developments by
juxtaposing illustrations of both.

In the following pages it then proceeds
to propose a road layout which would
clearly make it impossible ever to
produce the type of traditional
settlement that is considered so
admirable.

Sue McGlynn and Ivor Samuels, 2000.

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Suffolk Residential Design Guide

“There have been many changes since
1993 in planning policy relating to
housing and a greater emphasis on
achieving higher quality design. The
SDG is now showing its age.”

It is anticipated that Manual for Streets
will be supplemented in Suffolk...

Work is progressing...

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Worcestershire CC new standards...

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!Leicestershire/East Midlands guidance
!Initial review in 2007 following MfS – but mainly junction visibility
!More comprehensive review said to be pending...

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Staffordshire CC standards (2000)

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Quality Audits
!Quality Audits introduced in MfS1 - a ‘Balanced Audit’ reviewing key
aspects of a design against set objectives
!Some authorities (eg Kent, Solihull) have taken the concept further
!CIHT working towards a guidance note on Quality Audits.
Policy Review
Objective Setting
Design
Quality Auditing

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Car Parking
Parking solutions should not dominate the scheme, and
should be carefully considered to reduce the impact of
parking spaces on the character and layout of the
development.
The Taylor Review.

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!No single best solution to providing car parking.
!A combination of solutions will often be
appropriate
!“Rediscover the street as a beautiful car park”
!On-street parking is efficient, understandable and
can increase vitality and safety
!Rear courtyards need to support on-street
parking, not replace it.
Car parking - key principles

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Efficiency of types of parking
Level of efficiency/
flexibility
Type of parking Comments
On-street (communal) Most efficient as
parking spaces are
shared and the street
provides the means of
accessing the spaces.
Off-street communal Requires additional
access and circulation
space.
Off-street allocated
spaces but grouped
Although more
inflexible, this
arrangement allows the
potential for future
changes in allocation.
Off-street allocated
garages but grouped
Inflexible, and largely
precludes shared use.
Also security concerns.
Off-street within
individual dwelling
curtilage
Inflexible in perpetuity
and more space
consuming due to need
for driveways.
Garages within
individual dwelling
curtilage
High




Low

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Tricky Issues - Adoption
!Highway Authority can refuse to adopt due to
concerns over geometry and maintenance issues –
!visibility splays, radii, carriageway widths
!materials, street trees and planting, sustainable
drainage...etc.
!Solutions –
!Development of protocols for collaborative
working with highways officers
!Continuous learning from experience
!Development of better standards

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Tricky Issues – Level Surface Streets
!Concerns of visually-impaired/vulnerable people
over ‘shared space’ designs has extended to very
lightly-trafficked streets.
!Solutions – recognition of pros and cons of level
surfaces, close dialogue with relevant groups,
appropriate traffic speeds and volumes.

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“The quality of the public realm (streets, squares and open
space) generally does not reflect the quality of the
architectural heritage of Buxton town centre.”
Buxton Design Strategy
High Peak BC will work with Derbyshire CC to see that
highway works, including the design and construction of new
roads or highway improvements...reflect the Strategy as far
as possible. This will be key to raising the quality of the
public realm in the town centre.

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Discussion Points

- Geometry

- Materials

- Parking

- Level Surface Streets

- Trees and Planting

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Geometry

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Straight and Bendy Streets – Fronts and Backs

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Straight(ish) streets vs bendy streets

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Shepton Mallett

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Poundbury

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Junction Geometry - Kirby Lonsdale

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Lincolnshire

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The Hoplands, Sleaford

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The Hoplands, Sleaford

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Ingress Park

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Materials

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Poundbury

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Redruth

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Truro, Belvedere

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Shepton Mallett

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Ingress Park

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Parking

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Victoria Gardens, Camelford

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Victoria Gardens, Camelford

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Southwark

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Clay Lane

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The Hoplands, Sleaford

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Highfields, Bakewell

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Mortonhamstead Devon

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Level Surface Streets

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Broadclose, Bude

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Lime Tree Square, Street

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Mortonhampstead

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Trees and Planting

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Charlton Down, Dorset

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Sherbourne

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Newhall, Harlow

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Broadclose, Bude

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