Consider This: From Speedway to Heed-way
Meadowvale residents of Mockingbird Lane in Ward 10 are understandably disturbed by the recurring incidents of speeding cars on their residential street. On April 9, 2009 Mississauga News reported a speeding BMW lost control and slammed into a house. Fortunately no one was killed – this time.
When this lane was built, I’m sure there were assumptions that it would host walkers, cyclists, kids at play, dogs being walked, and slow moving vehicles driving to or from the local residences. Currently, there is an underlying fear of being struck by a racing car. This recent incident proves that this fear doesn’t leave one’s mind once they are off the street and in their yard or house. The question is: How can this street be redesigned to provide not just safety, but live up to its true potential?
Last year, Mississauga Cycling posted an introduction to turning streets into a true community space that is livable and safe. See Consider This: Bicycle Boulevards. The post includes a video courtesy of NYC Streets Renaissance and StreetsBlog. The term “bicycle boulevard” can have different meanings depending on culture and context, but in this case it refers to reclaiming a street that is being used inappropriately by its current traffic. Mockingbird Lane isn’t necessarily a cross-town street being used as a high traffic thoroughfare; it needs to positively change its draw as a smooth, wide open drag strip that runs just under 1km in length.
“Road diets” are an urban planning concept that can be applied to Mockingbird Lane. Putting a road on a “diet” doesn’t necessarily mean making it smaller, but rather changes its layout where drivers have no doubt they should be driving with caution and care – even if there aren’t any speed limit signs or police presence. The road diet concept achieves its goals by appealing to the psyche of its “consumers”. In other words, if you build a road length that has smooth new pavement that is open and straight as an arrow, you are not only going to get road racers seeking it out, but also casual commuters will have a tendency to drive faster than how the road was intended. As mentioned in a StreetsBlog post called America’s Big Fat Road Problem, “People drive fast because it feels like they should. They see a wide road, and don’t give themselves much time to see anything else.”
As the Mississauga Cycling Master Plan draws near to its release-to-public date, communities across the city are being encouraged to plan their streets wisely and holistically. Mockingbird Lane is a clear candidate for forward-thinking design. Its residents demand a solution to drivers that are stealing their neighborhood life from them.
Consider how the combination of these and other proven street designs can provide a positive solution to Mockingbird Lane in Meadowvale:
Cars-in-the-middle
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