Feel safe and secure
Do people feel safe and secure using the streets and public spaces throughout the day?
It is critical that public spaces are safe, secure and comfortable to use because people are less willing to walk, cycle or use public transportation if they feel unsafe in the public domain. By creating a safe environment throughout the day, the public realm will support the ambitions for an inclusive public realm, a healthier and more active lifestyle for residents, and promote community engagement. Additionally, the public realm will foster the safety of children walking or cycling to school, accessing play facilities, and socialising with friends.
Recommendations:
1. Traffic calming & limiting speed
A wide range of traffic calming should be integrated into the streetscape to both limit vehicle speed and encourage a pedestrian and cycling friendly environment. Traffic calming should be tackled in the first instance through the design of the street and the buildings and landscape tat enclose it, and then through specific traffic calming devices, which should be selected to fit both the street type and its expected traffic volumes.
2. Convenient & safe crossing points
A critical aspect of a pedestrian friendly public realm is to locate crossing points at the most convenient locations for pedestrians. The safety of crossing points should be ensured through good visibility, fitting the width to expected flows, and integrating traffic calming devices. Crossing with signals should provide enough time for everyone to cross without feeling rushed.
3. Limit conflicts between different flows of movement
Conflicts between pedestrian, cycle, and vehicular flows should be minimised. Special attention should be paid to ensuring the visibility of cyclists, limiting conflicts with pedestrians exiting buses, and legibility of street intersections.
4. Active edges & social spaces
A safe public realm is designed to encourage natural surveillance through active frontages. The regular movement of people along adjacent frontages activates the space and helps to create a safer environment for all.
5. Windows overlooking streets and public spaces
Buildings adjacent to streets and public spaces should be designed so that they front the public realm. Windows should be oriented to overlook areas of activity.
6. Lighting
The public realm should be sufficiently lit to support accessibility, safety, and security requirements during the night, whilst balancing issues of light pollution for adjoining residents.
Has the street edge been designed, using buildings and planting to support passive traffic calming ? Are additional traffic calming measures required within the carriageway to further promote a safe pedestrian environment?
Can people cross the road safely at the point they would find most convenient? Are the crossings provided suitable for the street type, traffic volume, width of the carriageways, and proposed nearby uses (e.g. school)?
Can pedestrians and cyclists cross safely, directly and comfortably at the identified junctions and crossing points? Is there good visibility so that people crossing can see oncoming traffic and be seen by drivers?
Are car parking and loading bays located to create a safe environment for pedestrians to cross the street? Where pavements and crossings get crowded (e.g. bus stops, school entrances, etc.), is there enough space for people to wait and cross at peak times ?
Have the entrances to side streets been narrowed and raised to pavement level to give clear priority to people walking?
Does the street lighting illuminate the pavement as well as the carriageway? Is the public realm surveillance by active edges and overlooking windows?