Better Streets Delivered 2 Better This Document Is a Research Document and Its Content Does Not Represent Adopted Policy
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Better 2 Delivered Streets This document is a research document and its content does not represent adopted policy. All errors and omissions remain our own. Better Streets Delivered 2 Learning from completed schemes Learning from completed schemes from completed Learning © Transport for London Windsor House 42-50 Victoria Street London SW1H 0TL April 2017 tfl.gov.uk TR1510933_Better Streets_2017_Spine_AW.indd 1 07/04/2017 09:57 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION We are transforming the way we manage and understand our streets. However, Better Streets Delivered Learning from completed schemes Better 10 36 population estimates indicate that London needs to absorb approximately Streets Delivered 03 Introduction STREETS JUNCTIONS AND LINKS 1.5 million more people by 2031. A population infl ux of this magnitude puts Learning from completed schemes 04 Benefi ts of Healthy Streets 12 Hoe Street, Walthamstow Town 38 Euston Circus increasing pressure on our streets, requiring them to perform more effi ciently to 04 Better Streets initiative Centre 42 Holborn Circus transport additional goods and people within limited space. In this context we are 06 Categorising the schemes 14 Leyton High Road 44 Leonard Circus already changing the way we are thinking about our streets. 08 Better Streets Delivered 16 Royal College Street A growing body of evidence shows the important role that streets play in our daily 18 Victoria Road and The Battis, lives. Well-designed streets help to improve the local economy, encourage people MAYOR Romford Transport for London OF LONDON 01 20 Wood Street Town Centre 46 to use more healthy modes of transport, and foster social connections. With such TOWN CENTRES a range of infl uences, and with streets making up the majority of London’s public 48 Bexleyheath Town Centre spaces, the importance of ensuring good urban design cannot be overstated. 22 50 Bromley Village North As these impacts have become better understood in recent years, our focus on 52 Clapham Junction PUBLIC SPACES designing more appealing streets has increased. The Mayor and TfL have now 54 Clapham Old Town 24 Bonnington Square adopted the Healthy Streets Approach, which aims to create streets where people 58 Harlesden Town Centre 26 Gillett Square from all walks of life choose to walk, cycle and use public transport, for the good 60 Hornchurch Town Centre 28 Van Gogh Walk of their own health and the success of the city as a whole. Reducing the dominance 62 Southall Broadway Boulevard 30 Vauxhall Walk Rain Gardens of motor vehicles and creating streets that work for people will now be at the heart 64 Sydenham Town Centre of everything we do. 66 Wood Green High Road Across the Capital creative and innovative solutions are being implemented in 32 design and technology to make the most out of our streets and spaces. New street INTERCHANGES 68 layouts, new materials and new technology are being trialled to help improve 34 Sutton Station Gateway journeys and the day-to-day lives of Londoners. THE FUTURE 70 Aldgate Gyratory This document is the second in a series celebrating the achievements that are 72 Ealing Broadway Interchange contributing to making our vision for London’s streets a reality. In it we set out 74 Shepherds Bush Town Centre West examples of the great work that has already been done and work that is up and coming. In the fi rst document we looked particularly at some of the Capital’s 76 Street Types for London most high-profi le regeneration schemes. However in this edition we have been able to review a wider variety of schemes. While all of the schemes have been transformational, some of them use a light touch approach while others have completely redesigned the street. Our streets and spaces will continue to evolve to accommodate the growing and changing pressures on our city. At the heart of these changes are London’s people for whom we continuously strive to provide a better quality of life. Streets play a fundamental role in all of our lives, and understanding and carefully balancing the diverse needs of everyone who uses our streets will create better space and places for people to live, work and more. 03 BETTER STREETS DELIVERED One of the biggest health benefits that good quality calculation. For more information Valuing the health Better Streets staged approach public realm can deliver is enabling people to benefits of transport schemes: Guidance for London Tidy up Remove unnecessary road increase their everyday physical activity through an is available at TfL.gov.uk markings or broken street environment which is pleasant and safe to visit, walk furniture which is simple to and cycle in. Physical activity helps to improve health HEALTH BENEFITS PER YEAR remove and in doing so, will by reducing risk of heart disease, cancer and type 2 not damage the footway. diabetes as well as helping people to manage stress, £265,000 De-clutter A more strategic justification maintain a healthy weight and sleep better. £109,000 for every individual piece of equipment in the street; with the How to use the HEAT tool presumption of removal unless a clear reason for retention is given. The tool can be applied to any scheme which expects Better Streets initiative an uplift of cycling and/or walking, from a surface Relocate or Any remaining features should The Better Streets initiative has been a driving force in infrastructure redesign to masterplan regeneration merge be rationalised by combining creating reinvigorated neighbourhoods across London. strategies. To use the tool, you simply need an functions signage and lighting or relocating It has brought to the fore a stark reality: that the estimate of the walking and cycling count before a street furniture to better fulfil its quality of the urban environment has lasting and far- intended use. scheme is implemented and the walking and cycling reaching effects on our communities and daily lives. Source: Lucy Saunders levels after completion. This can be obtained from Rethink traffic This could include considering user priority, changes to counts of pedestrians and cyclists. The results from management Figure 1: Indicators of a healthy street environment This document is the second in a set, dedicated options carriageway widths or the HEAT can also be used to help support business to investigating and celebrating the achievements removal of traffic signals. cases by demonstrating the value for money a of public realm schemes. Each scheme featured Recreate the Complete remodelling of the Benefits of Healthy Streets scheme can provide. reinforces the primary lesson of the Better Streets street street, such as creating a shared We are playing a major role in improving health in initiative: that context must dictate response. surface, may be suitable if a new To use the HEAT tool please go to: London, by investing to make the Capital’s streets Successful streets can only be achieved by set of objectives or character http://www.heatwalkingcycling.org/ is desired. This approach is not more inviting, safer, greener and inclusive of all types understanding and responding to the unique function, suitable in all locations and of journeys. One of the ways we are measuring the performance and form of a street or area. The Using HEAT in Better Streets Delivered requires extensive consultation. impact of investment is with the Health Economic examples included demonstrate the exceptional Assessment Tool (HEAT) for walking and cycling. This This document presents HEAT values which were quality that can be achieved by taking this approach For each scheme in the document a simple diagram tool was developed by the World Health Organisation calculated using counts of pedestrians and cyclists and share key lessons from each project, hoping to is included to highlight the measures used during (WHO) to help organisations monetise the health taken on-street. Very conservative estimates were inspire future excellence across London. development. Coloured lines and boxes indicate benefits of reduced mortality gained by increases in applied so the outputs reflect a minimum estimated methods that were used, while grey text and white walking and cycling. value. Most of the projects included in this report did The measures shown in the table (top right) show boxes show those that were not used. not have both baseline and ‘after’ data on pedestrians increasing complexity and cost. They are the main The Healthy Streets Approach we have now adopted and cyclists. For these projects it was assumed that actions that people and organisations can use to Better Streets level of intervention there was a 15% uplift, this is a conservative estimate puts health at the heart of our decision making, and achieve better streets. Recreate the street better monitoring and use of the HEAT tool on all based on observed uplift in other similar projects. Rethink traffic management schemes will be an important part of ensuring that Where the uplift was observed using baseline Relocate/merge functions we invest in the right schemes, in the right way. and ‘after’ counts this was applied in the HEAT De-clutter Tidy up 04 05 BETTER STREETS DELIVERED Categorising the schemes Certain projects may contain more than one The examples in both publications show the broad intervention type, often because of the need to diversity of the Better Streets projects achieved as tackle several complex issues. Where this is the case part of London’s Great Outdoors initiative. All were the project has been categorised according to what implemented using the aforementioned staged most makes the scheme exemplary, highlighting approach, so that each received the right intervention the notable, innovative methods used in design, for their context. Most of the schemes featured consultation and delivery. underwent marked changes beyond the lower end of the intervention scale, receiving more than a ‘tidy up’ or ‘de-clutter’.