Challenge

Roadway reallocation projects provide opportunities to consider how street space affects the competing priorities of safety, access, and mobility-not to mention economy, environment, health, and equity. Unfortunately, planners and engineers are not equipped with effective tools for evaluating these tradeoffs, and the traditional approach considers traffic operations above any other outcome, irrespective of community priorities. Kittelson, along with Safe Streets, Mobycon, and ITRE, was tasked with researching how to integrate guidance elements, best practices, and findings from original research into a decision-making framework and guidebook.

Solution

After conducting practitioner interviews, a literature review, and original research into the operational, safety, and economic impacts of roadway reallocation projects, the Kittelson-led team produced NCHRP Research Report 1036 Roadway Cross Section Reallocation: A Guide and a decision-making spreadsheet tool. This guide provides a framework that can be applied at each stage of the project development process; incorporates transportation and non-transportation outcomes of reallocating cross sections; uses a performance-based design approach; and includes performance measures to support decisions throughout project development.