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AC <br />T <br />I <br />V <br />E <br /> <br />T <br />R <br />A <br />N <br />S <br />P <br />O <br />R <br />T <br />A <br />T <br />I <br />O <br />N <br /> <br />A <br />C <br />T <br />I <br />O <br />N <br /> <br />P <br />L <br />A <br />N <br />Sa <br />i <br />n <br />t <br /> <br />A <br />n <br />t <br />h <br />o <br />n <br />y <br /> <br />V <br />i <br />l <br />l <br />a <br />g <br />e <br />, <br /> <br />M <br />N <br />21 <br />Designing for Safe Speeds <br />Conventional Street/Highway Design <br />Proactive Multimodal Street Design <br />Operating Speed = Design Speed = Posted Speed <br />Target Speed = Design Speed = Posted Speed <br />Street Design Influences Behavior <br />The design of streets directly influences behavior. Most motorists drive <br />to match the “design speed” of the road, using cues such as lane width, <br />street texture, the distance between buildings, trees in the public right- <br />of-way, other edge features and sight-line distances rather than solely <br />relying on the posted speed limit.​ In turn, streets should be designed <br />to promote safety by taking a proactive design approach to ensure <br />lower “target” speeds—the speed drivers should be going. <br />Historically, roadways have been designed by observing the operating <br />speed of the majority of drivers and designing the street for that speed. <br />This has resulted in design speeds that are often higher than the posted <br />speed due to wide turn radii, wider travel lanes, clear zones and more. <br />Today, more communities are using “target speed,” a proactive <br />approach to multimodal street design, by first identifying the speed <br />they would like drivers to go and then implementing street design <br />treatments to ensure the operating speed of motorists is the target <br />speed. This convention helps ensure vulnerable users like people <br />walking and biking are considered equitably in the design of the <br />roadway. <br />A lower target speed, and thus posted speed, is a key characteristic <br />of streets in walkable,bikeable,mixed use, neighborhoods and <br />commercial areas. <br />This Action Plan provides starter recommendations on how to start <br />to bring the design speed more in line with safer target speeds of <br />20-25 mph through narrower lane widths, streetside landscaping, <br />modern roundabouts and other traffic calming tools to create a <br />safer and higher quality environment for all. <br />Read more on target speed: https://nacto.org/publication/urban- <br />street-design-guide/design-controls/design-speed/. <br />Adapted from NACTO.org <br />39