News

Byways & Highways Ltd Embraces Manual for Streets!!

8th February 2008


Over the last 50 years, highway proposals related to residential development have tended to focus on the ease of movement for vehicles at the expense of pedestrians and other vulnerable road users.  Recently, the Department for Transport released new guidance with the intention of redressing the balance.

Streets are almost by definition, roads that serve households.  In recent years, there has been a realisation that the traditional social cohesion offered by extended families and fellow workers all living in the same street has broken down.  In addition, the growth in motor car ownership has had the effect of physically separating communities.

The new Manual for Streets aims to recreate the idea of streets being places where people live and can interact safely.  It is not anti car philosophy but rather an attempt to encourage and sustain supportive communities.

Tim Jopling, Senior Consultant at Byways & Highways Ltd suggests:-

"At Byways & Highways Ltd, we have the expertise and vision to aid and guide developers in understanding the implications of Manual for Streets in relation to their residential proposals.  The new Manual for Streets replaces the guidance contained in Design Bulletin 32 and its companion guide, Places, Streets and Movement.  Where the previous guidance was largely prescriptive and quantitative, the Manual for Streets is intended to encourage designers to be creative within a framework of safety and quality."

The new Manual for Streets:-

• Balances the importance of streets as "places" and areas of "movement"
• It places pedestrians rather than vehicles at the heart of the design process
• Recommends that 20mph speed limits are the norm in residential areas
• Recommends that designs are assessed via Quality Audit, encompassing safety but not ruled by quantitative measures
• Encourages a more traditional connected street layout, where safe pedestrian permeability through communities is possible.  This encourages walking and further enhances community interaction

Byways & Highways Ltd has a proven track record in  innovative residential road design.  We have a sound understanding of the various elements that need to be addressed in producing designs that are attractive, sustainable, permeable and safe for all residents and visitors.

Byways & Highways Ltd aim to inform the design process to ensure that developers' street layouts are designed and constructed to an adoptable standard.

For further information on what Byways & Highways Ltd can provide relating to Manual for Streets, please contact
Tim Jopling on 01209 719037 or email t.jopling@bywaysandhighways.co.uk