Episode 30: Wide lanes yet slow cars

Celebration, Florida, is a place that breaks the rules for lane width in the core downtown, yet it works incredibly well.

Comments

[Brent]

Here's that intersection on Google maps:

http://goo.gl/maps/NNiC1

I'd guess that people drive more slowly for the same reasons that Hans Monderman used in his shared space concepts. The brick road feels like a sidewalk, not a road, and that's why drivers expect pedestrians. This area has stop signs, but it looks like something right out of Drachten, which doesn't:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q47umjW7GfE

[R. John Anderson]

Chuck,

Another factor in the reduced speed in Celebration is the use of Tee intersections in lieu of 4 way intersections.

Best,

John

[Eli Damon]

I do not believe that narrowing lanes in itself slows traffic. Rather it is bringing the surroundings in closer and making them more prominent that slows traffic.

[Foraker]

The blocks also appear to be quite short, unlike the case of a mile-long straightaway that the driver sees stretching out before him to near infinity. Perhaps this causes the driver to see that it's not far to the next intersection and instinctively slows down.