New Guidebook Arms Citizens to Face Road "Experts"
New England's Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) has published a guidebook on community traffic impacts, traditional roadway engineering assumptions and community-oriented approaches to transportation planning that sets a new standard for provision of knowledge and tools to citizens faced with agencies bent on the continual "improvement" and widening of roadways. The 54-page, 7 chapter Take Back Your Streets: How to Protect Communities from Asphalt and Traffic is a step-by-step primer for the citizen confronting road widening projects or excessive traffic through a community. The book first establishes that "Streets and roads do not exist in isolation from their surroundings. They pass through a landscape full of people who are somewhere rather than going somewhere." Yet "For half a century, highway departments have treated the streets and roads as conduits for motor vehicles, conceding little ground to any other need except motorists' need for driving speed." Following chapters provide detailed but very clear explanations of traffic engineering practices and concepts, including roadway "design speeds" and standards, traffic "service levels" and roadway classifications and on the actual legal framework transportation departments operate within. A number of constraints on roadway design often claimed by agencies are not actually binding. A well-documented discussion of the impacts of increased traffic speed looks at incidence and severity of accidents (especially to pedestrians), increase in some air pollutants, noise, community character and inducement of longer and additional car trips. An account of traffic calming techniques is effectively presented for a New England context. Finally, the authors provide tips for getting involved and making a community's case in transportation planning and project development procedures. The arguments and information provided are equally applicable to cities and small towns -- Take Back Your Streets is an important resource for established transportation advocacy groups and neighborhood associations alike. The book is an excellent companion to CLF's 1994 Road Kill, which looks at transportation impacts from a macro perspective. Conservation Law Foundation, 617-350-0990.
