One way to deal with too-wide streets
Salt Lake City is a land of monster streets, most of which are still far too wide to be pleasant for pedestrians. So what should we do about that?
One easy and relatively cheap solution is to simply convert car space to pedestrian space, as L.A. is currently doing:
Phase I of the “Broadway Streetscape Master Plan” will cost an estimated $1.8 million and include a “reconfiguration” of Broadway’s six lanes of traffic, into three lanes. The thoroughfare will turn into one southbound lane and two northbound lanes, for nine blocks between 2nd and 11th streets.
It also includes adding 24-hour curbside parking to the area to facilitate shopping and improve business activity.
The article goes on to point out that this kind of solution is good not only for pedestrians, but also for local commerce.
While narrowing the streets isn’t specifically mentioned as an objective in the article, that would be a collateral benefit in a place like Salt Lake or elsewhere in Utah.
200 South in Salt Lake City is a massive street but if it wasn’t so wide it would actually be quite pleasant. Devoting more of the right of way to pedestrian traffic is one way to accomplish that.
About Town 
2 comments