Move the Curb

NYC DOT Traffic Calming, 1996-98.  

We began the traffic calming program at NYCDOT in the late 1990’s.  We responded to community concerns of traffic safety by looking for places to convert asphalt to medians, islands, and planters.  

These examples from Staten Island focused on larger streets that passed through residential neighborhoods. With traffic signals or stop signs few and far between, drivers would gather speed making it dangerous to walk across the street, pull out from your driveway, or turn into traffic.  

The example from Midland Blvd. is a median at a crosswalk adjacent to a school.  It acted as a pedestrian refuge island for the children.  The NYC Parks Department planted the median after we built it.

https://www.google.com/maps/search/amboy+rd,+staten+island+NY/@40.5747729,-74.0976566,54m/data=!3m1!1e3

The example from Amboy Rd. is a median and traffic island.  They are located at an intersection that had seen many crashes.  The neighbors at the American Legion planted the island after we installed it.  

Moving the Curb, Diagonal Norte and Diagonal Sur, Buenos Aires, Argentina, training and design review 2012-14, construction 2014-15.  In association with ITDP.  Partially funded by World Bank.

In 2012 we began working with city staff in Buenos Aires.  Initially we conducted a training workshop at Plaza Constitution, then performed a series of interventions, followed by additional training.  We also provided conceptual designs and design review.  It is part of a larger effort by the city to rethink how their streets are designed and used.

Paso Seguro, Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City, Mexico, 2005-13.

In 2005 we photographed people walking from the entrance of Chapultepec Park to the Chapultepec Metro station.  The route covers a 600m stretch of Paseo de la Reforma (the city’s signature boulevard) and its interchange with the Circuito Interior (a major highway).  

We passed the photos to a journalist who was writing a series of articles about pedestrian safety in Mexico City (it has one of the highest fatality rates in the world).  Eight years later the sidewalk was built or widened and raised intersections were installed at the highway ramps.

The photos on the above left show the condition in 2005.  The above right show the same in 2014. Below is an excerpt from the Reforma newspaper, 2013-07-12.

Estacion Alta Vista along the MetroBus BRT on Avenida Insurgentes Sur at Calle Vito Allesio Robles and Calle Rio San Angel in Mexico City.  In 2005 we developed specific pedestrian safety recommendations for five stations along the BRT corridor. 

Traffic Calming and Place Making Test, Beltrão and Guimarães Streets, Rio de Janeiro (Brasil)

-22.912676,-43.205110, https://goo.gl/maps/N5dBFinJf6m

Beltrão Street is an important walkway between the Estácio Metro station and Rio’s City Hall.  There is a large, striped triangle in the center of the T-intersection.  City officials requested that we test ways to slow drivers, increasing yielding, and make it easier to cross the street.  

We used cones to make the triangle larger, add refuge points at the crosswalks, and create a mini-plaza within the intersection.  We placed potted plants and seating in the plaza.

Traffic Calming Cone Test, Guimarães+Duprat Streets, Rio de Janeiro (Brasil), 2014

-22.9119278,-43.203464, https://goo.gl/maps/4GKGzoFHnA72

This intersection is in between Rio’s Centro de Operações (central traffic operations) and the PetroBras offices.  City officials requested that we explore ways to make it easier to cross the street.  We used cones to tightened the radii and make a chicane. This caused drivers to slow down and yield more often to people crossing the street.  In the video you can see the bus driver yield to the woman in a wheelchair.

Personally demonstrating that a roundabout is too big.

In 2003 a person was killed crossing Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn at the intersection with Milford Street / Norwood Avenue.  The person was crossing the street to get to the bus stop of the other side.  There were no marked crosswalks.

The person was standing on the median when struck.  The median here was about 3-4 inches high, which would be considered “mountable”.  For comparison, a typical curb is 6-7 inches high, and the medians on the West Side Highway are 20 inches high.  

The images below illustrate a raised median at this location, which could have prevented this tragedy.  The were developed for Transportation Alternatives.

Below is a photo of Atlantic Boulevard in Queens.  The median is about 12 inches high - see how it comes almost to the knees of the man crossing the street.