Type: Conceptual Vision Plan
Scale: City-wide
Status: Completed
In 2017, Transportation Alternatives, a non-profit active transportation organization working on campaigns all over NYC, launched the Streetopia campaign with a one-day exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. Streetopia asserts a bold vision for New York City where policy, design, and technology advancements de-prioritize the movement and storage of private automobiles.
For the Streetopia campaign launch, Transportation Alternatives hired Street Plans to create detailed visions for what car-free or car-lite neighborhood streets could look like in NYC. Street Plans created a series of neighborhood plans and high quality street level designs for: Flushing, Queens; East Williamsburg, Brooklyn; the Upper West Side, Manhattan; Lower Manhattan; and a general ‘Avenue of the Future.’
The plan for Flushing centers around the idea to transform Roosevelt Avenue and Main Street into bus-only streets and to turn Prince Street and similar surrounding residential streets into a shared street that prioritizes pedestrian movement and highly limits private vehicle access.
The vision for East Williamsburg focuses on redesigningGrand Street into a bike and bus-only transit thoroughfare which includes expanded pedestrian space, protected bikeways, a busway, and dedicated delivery zones.Surrounding residential streets would prioritize pedestrians and also highly limit private vehicle access.
The vision for the Upper West Side transforms Broadway into a pedestrian-only street. Neighborhood residential streets would also be transformed into public spaces with just enough space for local drop offs / pickups, deliveries, and emergency vehicle access.
The ‘Avenue of the Future,’ a prototype for commericial avenues in NYC, includes expanded sidewalk/pedestrian space, protected bike lanes, curb extensions, ride-share pickup/drop-off locations, off-peak loading zones, and high-occupancy vehicle-only lanes.
