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Fascinating read about how the concept of "forgiving highways" (forged in the 1960s), and why it needs rethinking in built-up areas, and how the Dutch are leading the way.
QUOTE
Forgiving Highways is a concept that designs roads to “forgive” mistakes made on the road. It seeks to smoothly redirect the vehicles that leave roads, and allow wide enough clear zones to bring vehicles to controlled stops if and when they leave the roads. Breakaway supports, burying the end of guardrail, clearing the roadside of unneeded obstacles, and flattening and rounding slopes and ditch sections became standard design as part of the concept.

The idea that Forgiving Highways (wider and straighter) would reduce crashes on non-freeways took root during the 1966 National Highway Safety hearings.
UNQUOTE
Obviously, "forgiving highways" works well in a non-urban context, but in an urban context, arterials built with those guidelines provide a false sense of security for drivers, and leave pedestrians and cyclists (anyone "weaker") in the lurch.

I'm particularly interested in this entry right now, because it seems to me that the City of Victoria's Engineering Department is stuck in a "forgiving highway" mindset as it tries to convince us that the city's Johnson Street Bridge needs to be replaced.

blog.pps.org/he-dutch-self-explaining-roads - Preview

project_for_public_spaces roads transportation holland traffic traffic_safety

Portal page for two additional links, "10 Qualities of a Great Waterfront" and "The 9 most important steps in revitalizing a waterfront." The main worry for the authors here ("A common challenge is how to revitalize places where the river, lake or sea has been cut off from the rest of town by wide roadways or hulking industrial facilities") doesn't apply to Victoria, whose waterfront is *not* cut off by road arterials or industrial areas. But in general terms, there are still some nuggets on the linked-to pages.

www.pps.org/...to_Create_a_Vibrant_Waterfront - Preview

project_for_public_spaces waterfront urbanplanning urban_design

www.pps.org/...ck_to_basics_in_transportation - Preview

automobile cars highway_system infrastructure planning project_for_public_spaces transportation