Emergency Response & Street Design 20091 Saving Lives, Time, Money: Building Better Streets New Urbanists, Fire Marshals Find Common Ground The Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and fire marshals from across the country have partnered to- gether on an Emergency Response & Street Design Initiative. This initiative is aimed at reconciling the growing desire for appropriately-sized and connected streets with emergency responders’ access needs. We believe common ground exists for solutions because streets in connected networks: •Can improve emergency response times by providing several routes to any given address. •Are safer for pedestrians, drivers, and emergency responders since they calm Residential streets like this 28-foot wide example in Prospect New Town in Longmont, Colo., traffic below speeds that more likely are a staple of New Urbanism, but are often hindered by the International Fire Code’s 20-foot result in fatal or serious injury collisions. clear rule. Properly designed, and in connected networks, these streets actually help emergency response times and calm traffic. (Photo courtesy of CNU) Narrower streets in well-connected to drive everywhere for everything. As fire-related civilian deaths in the U.S. networks also help reduce stormwater the United States responds to the poten- – from 7,395 in 1977 to 3,430 in 2007 runoff, require less energy to construct, tial dangers of global climate change and according to the National Fire Protection and facilitate non-greenhouse emitting the urgent need to reduce vehicle miles Association. The majority of emergency transportation alternatives like walking traveled to mitigate that threat, bringing calls are not related to fire, but rather and bicycling. back connected street patterns can help to calls for medical or traffic injuries. reduce energy consumption and carbon In 2007, the National Highway Traffic Abundant literature supporting these dioxide emissions. Safety Administration reported that traf- findings exists in academia, municipal fic collisions killed 41,059 and injured reports and the work of Local Govern- Moreover, the demographic trends of the 2,491,000 people. ment Commission, a non-profit dedicated 1990s and this decade, which saw both to helping local leaders and elected young professionals and empty nesters The Emergency Response & Street officials create healthy, walkable com- migrating into cities, suggest growing Design Initiative aims to achieve reduc- munities. An annotated bibliography demand for urban living. In response, the tions in traffic injuries and deaths through provides a summary of current findings initiative partners are developing cutting- better street design. and is available at the Initiative’s web edge solutions for street designs that reduce page: cnu.org/emergencyresponse. emergency response times and improve Origin of the Problem community safety. As suburbs mushroomed and spread Traditional, connected streets are sus- after World War II, the traditional, tainable, viable alternatives to sprawling, Over the past 40 years, the fire service connected street grid network was wide road systems that encourage people has done a tremendous job reducing BUILDING page 2 2 3 Fire Officials, Urbanists Connect on Streets Connectivity is Common Ground for Solutions What We’re Doing and Why As we moved away from traditional interconnected networks of streets that The Emergency Response & Street Design stances. The International Code Council’s development patterns, two major things promote alternatives to driving. Whether Initiative brings together fire code officials, code amendment process will continue happened to our streets: they became wider they’re lined with bungalows with front new urbanists and the U.S. EPA to find through 2009 and 2010. We invite you to Shared Values for and the level of connectivity decreased. porches, or shops and sidewalk cafes, ways of accommodating traditional urban offer comment to the ICC on our proposed Traditional Urban traditional streets create an outdoor streets and emergency responders’ needs for changes. For more information, please Streets and Recent studies have shown that wider streets space that works well for drivers and quick and ready access to a given address. visit the Initiative’s web page, Emergency Response are associated with more traffic injuries and pedestrians. They create lasting economic Our goal is providing streets that work www.cnu.org/emergencyresponse. fatalities—leading to an increase for emer- value and improve a community’s quality for everyone – pedestrians, drivers, and This list was created by during the gency response services. And at the same of life. emergency responders – and that reflect Street Design & Public Health CNU Streets and Emergency time, reduced connectivity has increased the principles of sustainable neighborhood CNU and the Centers for Disease Control Response Workshop, held in April 2008, in Austin, Texas. local fiscal burdens as each fire station is But our desire for modestly-sized streets design and public safety alike. – which has already identified trans- able to serve fewer and fewer households stems as much from public safety concerns Working together, CNU, the EPA, and portation injuries as a public health 1. Life safety is important, should as homes sprawl across the landscape. as walkability. Properly designed and emergency responders will accomplish problem – are exploring the relationships be inclusive, and extend from fire placed in connected networks, they reduce this in three main ways: new fire code between street design, traffic injuries, and to traffic. In their quest for better, more efficient collision injuries and increase emergency language, research linking street design and public health/public safety, and how the 2. We value the efficient use of public safety, new urbanists and fire access to a given address. And at the core common ground between new urban- public health, and aggressive education and organizations can work together in finding resources, including property, marshals can learn from each other. New of the emergency response profession is ists and fire marshals. The Emergency outreach to build partnerships between solutions to this problem. services, and infrastructure. urbanists and smart growth advocates, the goal of reducing injuries through effec- Response and Street Design Initiative lets new urbanists and emergency responders. Educating everyone about these inter- guided by the Charter of the New Urban- tive response times and conditions. Ideally, us search together for mutually acceptable connected factors dovetails with the 3. We value vibrant places that ism, call for compact, pedestrian-friendly, fire trucks should get to locations in their and beneficial street design solutions. Code Changes Initiative’s effort to teach new urban- enhance pedestrian activity. and mixed-use neighborhoods with station area within five minutes. They need The Initiative team has developed ists and fire code officials more about 4. We value communities that to move down streets efficiently. Since proposed amendments to Chapter 503 each other’s professions, outlooks, and include a range of neighborhoods highly interconnected street networks of the International Fire Code that will approaches to street design. and compatible uses. Table of Contents offer many routes to most places, emer- empower local fire code officials to be Through these approaches, we hope to gency personnel have a better opportunity more flexible, under specific circumstances, improve the quality of the built environ- 5. We value streets, structures, and fire protection features that match to find the most direct and unimpeded regarding the standard that currently ment and emergency service. We hope you the context of the neighborhood. route possible. requires street widths to include at least 20 will agree, and join us in this endeavor. Traditional Streets John Norquist, President & CEO feet of unobstructed space. The team also Please see the “Get Involved” section of this 6. We value creative collaboration are Safer As you will see in these pages, there are proposed a new appendix to the code, and Report on Page 13 for more information. among those who serve and shape 4-5 many pieces to this puzzle and much a commentary explaining those circum- the built environment. Traditional Streets 7. We value an ongoing process of education and capacity-building are Safer for People BUILDING continued among those who serve and shape and Traffic discarded in favor of cul-de-sacs and that stand isolated from each other and the built environment. 6-7 sprawling roads whose widths and surrounding uses. Because they strengthen parking restrictions easily accommo- community bonds, improve quality of life, 8. We value adaptation in life saving Saving Lives and Money: dated fire apparatus of any size, even as and are the building blocks of sustainable responses due to regional differences. A Charlotte Case Study their limited subdivision entries and cul- communities and regions, New Urbanist 8 de-sacs increased the distance emergency neighborhoods are holding their value responders needed to travel to reach their much better than conventional subdivi- States and Towns destinations. sions in the current economic downturn. Embracing Reform 9 As the consequences of sprawl became But as New Urbanism spread, the “20 apparent, New Urbanism emerged dur- foot clear” provision of the International Fire Officials, ing the 1980s to re-establish