Green Roadways in Urban Areas
Now more than ever, stakeholders in urban areas want to be involved in shaping transportation infrastructure to be compatible with community objectives. For green roadways in urban areas, streets should enhance mobility choices and complement and reinforc
- PDF / 7,072,989 Bytes
- 16 Pages / 612 x 720 pts Page_size
- 34 Downloads / 227 Views
Green Roadways in Urban Areas
Now more than ever, stakeholders in urban areas want to be involved in shaping transportation infrastructure to be compatible with community objectives. For green roadways in urban areas, streets should enhance mobility choices and complement and reinforce community character, livability, and sustainability.
Deemphasizing Roads One of the fundamental problems in urban areas is that there is already too much paving, which causes significant environmental problems, including increased stormwater runoff, flooding, water and air pollution, loss of open space and wildlife habitat, and increased temperature. Urban areas are hotter than they otherwise would be because paved surfaces absorb and radiate solar energy. On average, U.S. cities are two to eight degrees Fahrenheit warmer than undeveloped areas. Excessive paving in urban areas also has a negative impact on quality of life. Roads have created barriers that divide neighborhoods and make it difficult to walk or cycle. According to a study by the U.S. General Accounting Office called “Traffic Congestion—Road Pricing Can Help Reduce Congestion, but Equity Concerns May Grow” (2012), the average annual commuting delay has more than tripled in the
last decade, and commutes are likely to get even longer as cities expand. Solving this transportation problem in urban areas is not about building more roads. Communities struggle to accommodate growth in ways that meet environmental goals and reduce our dependency on automobiles. Many people would like to live in walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods that are closer to their jobs, so they can spend more time with family and less time driving. (See Land Use Planning, Smart Growth, Complete Streets, and Transportation Infrastructure in chapter 4.) A single commuter switching his or her commute to public transportation can reduce a household’s carbon emissions by 10 percent. The reduction can increase to 30 percent if he or she eliminates the household’s second car. When compared to other household actions that limit carbon dioxide emissions, taking public transportation can be ten times greater in reducing this harmful greenhouse gas.
Retrofitting Existing Streets With so many of our older roads nearing the end of their life expectancy, federal, states and local governments must decide if it is smarter and less expensive to renovate highways or to build new routes. More often than not, in urban areas the decision is made
J.L. Sipes and M.L. Sipes, Creating Green Roadways: Integrating Cultural, Natural, and Visual Resources into Transportation, DOI 10.5822/978-1-59726-322-1_6, © 2013 James L. Sipes and Matthew L. Sipes
107
Figure 6-1 Shoppers in downtown Greeley, Colorado, feel a sense of community as they enjoy the many opportunities of the city. Image courtesy of AECOM.
Figure 6-2 The Plaza Arts Center in Atlanta, Georgia, serves as an inviting and comfortable community gathering place for many activities. Image courtesy of AECOM.
Figure 6-3 This wide street in Barcelona, Spain, is paved w
Data Loading...
