{"id":645,"date":"2008-11-21T09:16:30","date_gmt":"2008-11-21T14:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.okraparadisefarms.com\/blog\/2008\/11\/wider-is-not-safer.html"},"modified":"2008-11-21T09:16:30","modified_gmt":"2008-11-21T14:16:30","slug":"wider-is-not-safer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.okraparadisefarms.com\/blog\/2008\/11\/wider-is-not-safer.html","title":{"rendered":"Wider is Not Safer"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Speed<\/a>\nWider is not safer. Wider encourages drivers to go faster, which causes\nmore accidents. On a highway, where the point is to go faster, wider is\na good idea. In a neighborhood such as Quarterman Road\nwith small children catching\nthe schoolbus, teenagers visiting among themselves, bicyclists, farm\nequipment, dogs, and horses, faster is less safe, and wider is less safe.\n
\n“Over approximately the last 60 years, the design of streets has\ngone from those designed to accommodate a mix of transportation\noptions, to that designed to carry the maximum number of automobiles\nas fast as possible. However, not all street types serve the same\npurposes. Highways, freeways and the Interstate Highway System are\ndesigned for the sole purpose of maximizing the speed of travel and\nconvenience of automobile use. Residential design must be different\nto accommodate the character of the street. Unfortunately, streets in\nresidential neighborhoods are now being designed using similar standards,\nyielding a situation that is not only inconvenient and inefficient, but\nalso very dangerous. Streets must be designed to maximize overall safety.\n

\n“Municipal decision makers need to take responsibility for the overall\nsafety of the streets in their community. According to the House\nCommittee on Public Works (U.S. Congress) (as found in A Policy on\nGeometric Design of Highways and Streets: 2001 by AASHTO):”\n

\n—The Relationship between Street Width and Safety Essay<\/a>\n<\/blockquote>\nNow quoting from that last cited source:\n\n\n

\n\u201cWhose responsibility is it to see that maximum safety is\nincorporated into our motor vehicle transportation system? On this,\nthe subcommittee is adamant. It is the responsibility of Government\nand specifically those agencies that, by law, have been given that\nmandate. This responsibility begins with the Congress and flows through\nthe Department of Transportation, its Federal Highway Administration,\nthe State Highway Departments and safety agencies, and the street and\nhighway units of counties, townships, cities, and towns. There is no\nretreating from this mandate, either in letter or in spirit.\u201d\n

\n—A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets: 2001 by AASHTO\n<\/blockquote>\nThat last quote is from AASHTO, explaining what the U.S. Congress has said.\n

\nI understand county engineers are concerned about not risking their\ncertifications and county commissioners are concerned about personal\nand county liability. They all need to take into account that Quarterman\nRoad is not a highway. It is a local rural road with many neighborhood\ncharacteristics and people and animals and equipment to keep safe.\nIn such an environment slower is safer, and narrower is safer.\n

\nRegarding the tree canopies on Quarterman Road, the commission has\ndecided to preserve them by making the road design narrower.\nThanks to the commission for that, which not only saves the trees,\nit also makes the road safer.\n

\nSince the county has thus already changed the road design that\nwas submitted to contractors, I will refer to that as the old road design.\n

\"Quarterman\nPlease keep the roadbed under the northern canopy straight and eliminate\nthe gradual entrance and exit curves of the old road design. That will\npreserve the entire canopy, and will build in a slow speed limit.\n

\nSuch adaptations to local conditions are actually recommended by AASHTO.\nAccording to the Center for Environmental Excellence by AASHTO:\n

\n‘The Context Sensitive Design (CSD) process, also called Context\nSensitive Solutions (CSS), identifies the physical, visual, and social\ncontext in which a project is situated. Establishing the existing\ncontext is done through observation and analysis along with interviews\nand discussion. CSD\/CSS fosters the use of:\n