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The
function of local residential street is not just to act as
a corridor for vehicular traffic. They are also for social
interaction, walking and bicycling. Each residential street
will have these ingredients in different proportion but no
one function should dominate over all the others. Traditional
traffic calming adheres to this assumption and can be defined
as:
The
combination of mainly physical measures that reduces the negative
effects of motor vehicle use, alter drive behavior and improve
conditions for non-motorized street use.
Traffic
calming was born in Germany in the late 1920's when German
towns began to build pedestrian malls in inner cities. The
idea of pedestrian-only areas caught on and the lack of vehicular
traffic was applauded. Residents, realizing they gave a right
to the best quality of life a city can provide, began to ask
for more pedestrian friendly areas in their neighborhoods,
and specifically on their residential streets. The ideas that
sprung from their requests are what can be seen around Sarasota
and many other American cities today.
Traffic
Calming changes the look and feel of a street. It does not
discourage vehicle travel but it encourages automobile drivers
to operate safely with consideration for others on the street.
It works to improve the quality of neighborhood life by creating
safe attractive streets, and providing, and promoting pedestrian
and cyclist activities.
Please
review our presentation on the City of Sarasota's Traffic
Calming Program for further information: Click
Here
If
my question isn't answered here, who should I phone for:
Task force-specific technical information, study results,
design issues, street and City maps, task force startup, meeting
dates and times?
Engineering Department at (941) 954-4180
Neighborhood Association information, meeting dates, times,
startup?
Neighborhood Partnership Office at (941) 954-2612
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