In February, Street Plans’ Project Manager, Irene Balza, was a guest speaker at the 2023 Congress for New Urbanism (CNU) Florida Summit held at UCF Downtown in Creative Village in Orlando, Florida.
Irene is based in Miami and formed part of a panel showcasing local leading experts bringing diverse perspectives to reflect on the conference’s theme of Equitable Revitalization in Action. Irene’s presentation highlighted a project recently completed by Street Plans in the City of Fort Lauderdale as part of the B Tactical Program.
Irene spoke about the collective goal of new urbanists to design streets so that people drive less and walk more, and encourage compact urban patterns through our street design.
The project transformed a car-centered suburban arterial into a people-centered street in the Lake Ridge neighborhood, including the creation of curb extensions, protected bike lanes, crosswalks, and other bicycle and pedestrian amenities.
The B Tactical project manifests a core CNU principle by making it easier to walk, bike and take transit. This project had, at its foundation, a robust public engagement process that reinforced the relationship between the art of building and the making of community, through citizen-based participatory planning and design. This is seen not just in the design process, but in the fact that hundreds of community members participated in the physical painting and construction of the corridor.
View more project details and images here: BTactical Complete Streets Phase II | Broward County, FL
