WIREDGOV

Creating high streets which are free from clutter and have a good strong identity should be easier from now on. The newly published Manual for Streets 2 shows how streets can be designed to support vitality, economic performance and safety at the same time.

The first Manual for Streets has changed the approach to residential streets over the past three years. Designers are now tasked with making them become places in their own right, not just thoroughfares for traffic.

Manual for Streets 2 shows how the design principles and standards can be applied to busier streets, in city centres and high streets in town and villages.

The new guidance is light touch, expert technical advice produced the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation with support from CABE. It draws on practical experience and new research into issues such as sight stopping distances for buses and HGVs, and visibility at junctions.

Examples of good street design

In developing case studies for the guidance, CABE has investigated a number of streets that have changed radically:

• Walworth Road in London has been transformed from a traffic dominated thoroughfare into a vibrant place for local people
• London Road in Southampton was a road safety hotspot but a strong emphasis on traffic management has reduced speed and improved walkability
• High Row and West Row in Darlington were choked with traffic but restricting vehicle access and creating a pedestrian space has reduced congestion
• Maid Marian Way in Nottingham was voted one of Britain’s worst streets but pedestrian numbers have increased by 52% since it was overhauled
• Sheaf Square and Howard St in Sheffield were regenerated as part of the “Gold Route”, a series of streets and places running through the city centre.

Manual for Streets 2 is aimed primarily at the highways sector but it is also of use to planners, masterplanners, regeneration experts and developers involved with town centre redevelopment, urban extensions, or the redesign of strategic routes.

CABE support for street design

We have supported a number of locally led projects that aim to integrate street design and place making to deliver locally defined objectives, including Ashford ring road in Kent and Stamford in Lincolnshire. We are working with Cockermouth In Cumbria, Margate seafront in Kent and Sneinton Market in Nottingham. We will also be giving direct support to projects to reduce street clutter.