The other day I was driving behind a senior driver who was clearly not the sprightly driver he used to be. His driving was excessively slow and his positioning of the car in lanes was not accurate. As I waited behind him at an intersection, I watched him turn left in front of oncoming traffic. Thank goodness things were moving slowly and the driver of the other car was not distracted by unnecessary signage. There could have been an accident, and his wife, sitting in the passenger’s seat, would have been hit directly.
When the community met with Guy Hart, Jr. at the Palace (he’s the developer of the Walgreens), I had one point to make: older drivers are only increasing in number as boomers age. We need to keep our intersections as free of distractions as possible. It’s a safety issue.
Despite the fact that Mr. Hart chose to start and continue a conversation with his cohort as I was speaking to him, most of the audience got it: an aging population does not need yet another distraction at the difficult intersection of James and Grant. Our existing zoning standards (aka “guidelines”) support that notion: ground signs and animation are not allowed. The requested waiver of the guidelines to allow for a ground sign must be denied or we will have a lot more distracting signs to deal with and the danger to drivers and pedestrians will creep all the way down James Street.
Apparently AARP feels the same way about the importance of design guidelines to prepare our streets for older drivers (bolding mine):
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Nancy Thompson
May 14, 2009 202-434-2560
nthompson@aarp.orgRoad Planners Display Blind Spot for Oncoming Generation of Older Drivers
Update Design Guidelines and Complete Streets Will Accommodate Everyone, AARP Report Challenges
WASHINGTON, DC–Two-thirds of transportation planners and engineers have yet to begin addressing older people in their street planning; yet by 2025, 64 million people will be over age 65 according to census projections and by 2030 a quarter of all U.S. drivers will be 65+. This is the alarm raised by “Planning Complete Streets for the Aging of America” a major new report on roadway safety and the aging of the American population from AARP’s Public Policy Institute. The full report can be found here: http://www.aarp.org/research/housing-mobility/transportation/2009_02_streets.html.
Streets, sidewalks and roadways designed to achieve “Complete Streets” can make getting around safer for everyone, the report suggests. Yet in a poll of adults age 50+ also conducted for the report, two in five said their neighborhood sidewalks were inadequate (although, by 2030, 20% of those age 65+ will not be drivers). Nearly half said they could not cross main roads close to their home safely, preventing many from walking, bicycling or taking the bus. But safer, more accessible streets won’t happen until federal, state and local authorities and planners wake up to the need for roads that address the challenges of the coming age wave, the report charges.
“Improvements can reduce older driver crashes and pedestrian injuries without adversely affecting traffic; in many instances, local travel flow and accessibility are improved,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP Executive Vice President for Social Impact. “But while a growing number of states and localities have Complete Streets policies, too few have been built. Furthermore, an outdated bias in engineering practices competes with current local desire for user-friendly “Complete Streets” design.
The report recommends that federal, state, and local highway and street design guidelines serve older people by 1) reducing vehicle travel speeds at intersections where older drivers and pedestrians need more time to make decisions and execute changes, 2) making the physical layout of roads, crosswalks and sidewalks easier to navigate, and 3) making it easier for older drivers and pedestrians to notice, read, understand and respond to visual cues and information.
I’m going to interject here: the visual cues and information being referred to here are not advertisements for consumer goods nor community events. They are cues for safe passage through streets and intersections. Distractions from those visual cues will create unnecessary hazards. The report states this clearly in the section titled “Enjoy the View”:
“Planners and policy makers can improve roadway visibility by adopting corridor design standards that reduce visual “clutter,” such as oversized store signs and landscaping that make it hard for drivers to see important elements such as directional signs and pedestrians entering the roadway.”
The press release continues:
Because of time required to plan and make these improvements, communities need to begin now in order to be ready for the age wave, the report states. “It takes time to plan, design, fund and build capital projects,” said LeaMond. “Federal officials, planners and traffic engineers need to focus now on adjusting roads to become safer and more user-friendly for everyone.”
Men outlive their driving years on average by 7 years and women by 10, the AARP report reiterates. “’Complete Streets’ make walking more appealing and crossing streets safer for everyone,” said AARP’s LeaMond. Complete Streets legislation was recently introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives. AARP is a member of the Complete Streets Coalition (http://www.completestreets.org).
The research process for “Planning Complete Streets for an Aging America” included an online survey of 1,134 state and local transportation planners and engineers conducted from August 4 to September 3, 2008. A public opinion telephone survey of 1,006people age 50 and older was conducted from July 9-15, 2008 with a margin of error of +/-3.09% at the 95% confidence level. An interdisciplinary team of planners, engineers and policy advocates reviewed safety research and offered policy and design recommendations as part of the development of the report and the report includes an inventory and evaluation of 80 existing “Complete Streets” policies.
Older drivers are often the last people to recognize that their ability to react to visual cues is not what it used to be. If you hear an older person say, “I’m old and I can get through that intersection just fine!” … beware! “It ain’t necessarily so!” And in the meantime, do what needs to be done to keep Eastwood safe. Write a letter to the Planning Commission and mail it today or tomorrow, or attend the meeting on Monday, May 18 at 6:00 pm in City Hall. Send letters to:
Ms. Heather Lamendola
City Zoning
201 E. Washington St, Rm 211
Syracuse, NY 13202
It’s sad that after years of reversing “urban renewal” blunders from the 1960’s and 70’s, we still employ developers who don’t look at the whole picture. Nor do they see into the not-so-distant future!
Not too long ago, Rochester identified the potential the University-Goodman area posed. But with University Avenue being four lanes, it was used mainly as a thoroughfare from Winton to the Inner Loop. Store fronts were vacant, residential housing was decaying, and every car that passed by was going too fast to notice the decline in the area. Thank heavens for a small group of residents who banded together and eventually initiated a design charette.
Elements like curb bump outs and raised crosswalks slowed the traffic down, making it more walkable. Bicycle paths were also introduced into the grand scheme of things. Just a few simple changes in the traffic pattern of the area spurred economic growth, structural rehab projects, and a desirable area now know as the Neighborhood Of The Arts (NOTA).
Another creative option that is popping up all over the city is textured crosswalks. Faux brick patterns are pressed into the asphalt pavement at the cross walk, and then the impressions are painted different bright colors. Again, this is an effort to slow traffic down and make the immediate environment safer for everyone.
Subtle visual elements, when incorporated into the environment in a well thought out manner, can add so much to the safety, economic growth, and aesthetics of a community. But these elements must not only be the product of good planning, but good code enforcement as well. Allowing developers to bully their way into communities without any social responsibility is not only criminal on their part, but on the part of elected officials as well. On whose shoulders do the fiduciary duties of the public’s wellbeing lie?
What’s puzzling is the fact that these so-called business professionals can’t see the forest for the trees…mainly because the view is cluttered by cheap marketing ploys that only achieve short-term results. They’re only jeopardizing economic growth potential for themselves! A neighborhood polluted by unnecessary, poorly designed signage leaves a negative impression on visitors and residents alike.
Statistics plain and simply show that there is a growing trend of Baby Boomers moving back into urban areas. We need to plan accordingly, not only for the safety of our residents, but for the economic growth and stability of the region. Get-rich-quick development schemes are not the tow ropes that are going to pull Western and Central New York out of a Rust Belt slump that has plagued us for more than two decades now. We need solid urban planning and strong legislation that will move us to the head of the pack and make our region a more desirable place for the nation’s aging population to live.
Landlord Greg…thank you for a perspective from Rochester. This is good stuff! SO you know well the struggle in Syracuse (Eastwood) and how difficult it is to change the paradigm. I think that Rochester, especially there on University is one of the better planned Neighborhoods that I have seen in NYS. I wish that they would underground the utility lines on James Street like they did in Rochester. And wow….bulb outs! What a novel idea. The Mayor in Syracuse, during an election year put in a few Tree Pits and threw in some brick pavers (half pavers and half concrete) on half of the street…here it is 4 years later and the other part of the street still remains to be completed.