Pedestrian and Streetscape Guide

Author(s):

Otak, Inc.

Organization:

Otak, Inc. Prepared for the Georgia Department of Transportation, 2003, updated 2005

Publisher/Date:

Otak, Inc., 2003, updated 2005

Rating:

Very Useful

Abstract:

While this book contains information available in many other documents, its organization and inclusion of background information make it particularly useful to planners and designers.  The guidelines are presented as discrete toolkits, ranging from general information toolkits (general, accessibility, children, etc.), through toolkits addressing the constituent parts of the pedestrian realm (sidewalks, intersections, crossings, etc), to system toolkits (traffic calming, transit, site design, and construction zones).  That it addresses site design and considers where pedestrians are going in designing the pedestrian realm is uncommon and valuable.

Annotation:

presents a set of guidelines whose scope is very comprehensive. It captures a remarkable range of particular settings and circumstances. For instance, shopping centers, parking lots, and location of building entrances are usually not considered in “public right of way” guides. Here they are discussed and diagramed, both specifically and generally. It includes maintenance, again with lists and diagrams. There are small but valuable details such as the diagram showing the car overhang where there is vertical parking.

Equally valuable is the book’s organization and format. The casual or hurried reader need only to look at the items in the boxes -- annotated diagrams or bullets -- to get the criterion without the rationale, or the rationale without the discussion.

As good as this book is, there are minor quibbles that fall into the category of point of view or opinion. For example, driveway aprons are not minimized - seldom does one need an apron wider than 24 inches. And in another case, all the crosswalks are connecting sidewalks with grass planting strips along the curb resulting in the crosswalk width not being maximized.

There are some things are left out. The book is so comprehensive that the designer may not even realize something is missing: for instance the location of traffic signal buttons in median strips, the combined angle or the curb ramp and the crown parabola at the gutter.

The biggest weakness is that accessible elements are not always incorporated in the discussion of the element. Instead a person is referred back to Toolkit II, Accessibility.

Number of Pages:

219

Link:

Pedestrian & Streetscape Guide (www.dot.state.ga.us/dot/plan-prog/planning/projects/bicycle/ped_streetscape_guide/index.shtml)

Table of Contents?

Yes

Index?

No

Illustrations?

Yes (Photographs, Charts, Graphs)

Material Type:

Book

Notes:

2005 updates included. Very Useful for designers, planners, and public works departments. Key Resource for designers and planners.

Key Document?

Yes

Categories:

Guidelines, Planning, Concept/Schematic Design, Design Development, Maintenance, Rationale (functional needs, behavioral characteristics, safey, & health)

Keywords:

Georgia - State, Pedestrian Design

Strengths:

• Gives both prescriptive and performance criteria, always accompanied by the rationale.
• When regulatory guidelines are included, best practice is encouraged.
• Many pictures, details, and diagrams.
• Is clear, to the point, and in a very user friendly format.

Weaknesses:

• Does not incorporate criteria for designing for all people as part of general criteria.
• Has no index.

Suggestions for Future Editions:

• Toolkit 11, Safety in Work Zones should be expanded to include best practice access requirements.
• Eliminate regulatory maximums and minimums and give only the best practice dimensions. If designers want to know the minimum, let them go to ADAAG.

Record Last Updated:

July 2006