Safer Streets in a Post-COVID-19 World
With the need to protect people from the coronavirus in the near-term, but also the opportunity to create safer commuting areas and reduce our overall emissions, re-envisioning our roads in commercial and residential areas has to be a priority as we reopen.
Going to the grocery store or your favorite restaurant means risking your health right now. But for hundreds of residents, that’s been true for years. Many of our communities don’t have sidewalks, user-friendly crosswalks, or protected bike lanes because our streets were designed for cars only. But if we can’t go into offices every day or pack into the Food Lion on Saturday morning, our streets could look a lot different.
Last year, WakeUP wrote about how, on average, pedestrians and bicyclists are struck by motor vehicle drivers every day in Wake County. But we don’t have to go back to an unsafe environment, and we can still support a strong economy as we navigate to reopen. Many cities are taking a new approach to the future of streets in a post-COVID-19 world.
Three Ways Wake County’s Communities Can Reopen With Safer Streets
Retrofits like Complete Streets, Greenways and Protected Bike Lanes
In Milan, the city is reopening with wider sidewalks and bike lanes under what’s being called the Strade Aperte plan.
Embrace Creative Ideas to Promote Open Air Shopping, Eating, and Recreation
Lithuania’s capital is opening commercial streets to open air cafes, bars, and restaurants so small businesses can still drive economic development traffic with social distancing in place.
Process for Permitting Safer and Open Streets
Closer to home, Boston’s neighbor, the City of Cambridge, is exploring streets that can be closed to non-essential car traffic so bicyclists and pedestrians can move safely and freely.
We have the opportunity now to road test (literally) innovative solutions for multiple challenges at once without spending a whole lot. Piloting one or more of these projects could also allow local economies to begin recovering while protecting residents. Let’s get creative!
There aren’t many cyclists on the painted lanes we have now. I don’t see a need for this at all.
Awesome work! Really looking forward to more infrastructure to support those on bikes and walking.