COVID-19 forced many cities and towns to rapidly adapt streets and public spaces with temporary materials. Three years later, many of the projects that were implemented during that time are showing their age or have already been removed because they were never meant to last that long. As we continue to emerge from the fog of the pandemic, a major challenge facing cities and towns across the country is how to transition from temporary pandemic-era street and open space projects to more permanent, durable, and beautiful materials and designs.
The key question for cities is how to learn from, and build upon, pandemic-era projects. If nothing else, the pandemic taught us that we need to adapt and prioritize safety by focusing on measures that reduce traffic volume and speed to improve walking and biking, and to ensure well-designed outdoor dining and gathering spaces thrive. These questions are central to the work we are currently doing at Street Plans, from Miami Beach, FL to Bronxville, NY.
Pictured above are neighbors enjoying outdoor dining in Bronxville, NY, and below is a beach-bag planter installed by staff during COVID
The City of Miami Beach was an early adopter of the Slow Streets model in the Flamingo Park Neighborhood in the heart of South Beach. Using beach-bag planters (shown above), delineator signs, and traffic control barricades, the city installed 70+ different projects across 4 miles around the district, resulting in a 57% increase in bicycle volumes and a 28% increase in pedestrian volumes. Unfortunately, the long-term costs of maintaining the traffic control and planters were too high, and the project was removed in spring 2022.
Following the removal, Street Plans was engaged by the city to conceive of a Slow Streets 2.0 Plan that would replicate the success of the COVID-era slow streets projects with the use of more durable tactical Quick-Build project delivery methods. Our analysis identified 80+ different intersection or corridor projects around the district that would improve the Slow Streets 1.0 work. An initial Phase 1 of work was approved by the City Commission in September 2022, and includes painted curb extensions, traffic circles, diverters, signage, protected bikeways, and asphalt art, to be completed in early 2024.
Following the removal, Street Plans was engaged by the city to conceive of a Slow Streets 2.0 Plan that would replicate the success of the COVID-era slow streets projects with the use of more durable tactical Quick-Build project delivery methods. Our analysis identified 80+ different intersection or corridor projects around the district that would improve the Slow Streets 1.0 work. An initial Phase 1 of work was approved by the City Commission in September 2022, and includes painted curb extensions, traffic circles, diverters, signage, protected bikeways, and asphalt art, to be completed in early 2024.
Up in the Village of Bronxville, NY the focus has been on the city’s popular outdoor dining program and how to help both merchants and the Village develop a self-sustaining permanent outdoor dining program. Previously, merchants installed both sidewalk and on-street dining facilities to offer safe and comfortable outdoor dining options. The updated outdoor dining standards will streamline the application process, improve aesthetics, and minimize operation/maintenance costs. Our work there includes multi-modal traffic analysis of the Village core, and the development of design concepts to assess the feasibility of two-way to one-way traffic conversion to alleviate conflicts between on-street parking, outdoor dining facilities, and freight and other drop-off/pick-up. Interim outdoor dining standards will be evaluated to inform the permanent standards.