Tree Lawns to Increase Foot Traffic

Though I am not necessarily opposed to car traffic – it has a place in our society and overall improves lives – I do believe more can be done to encourage walking and foot traffic in our cities and suburbs.

Safety

One of the significant issues with walking along the streets is safety. And the safety metrics for pedestrians in our country have become significantly worse in the last decade. The Governor’s Highway Safety Association’s latest Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities report calls out a 77% increase in pedestrian fatalities between 2010 and 2021.

U.S. pedestrian traffic fatalities…

As one would expect, there are more fatalities that occur in the dark when visibility levels are hindered. In fact, fatalities occurring in the dark have disproportionately increased over the last decade…

In addition, more and more of the fatalities are occurring along roads that do not have a sidewalk present in the area…

Do I Belong Here?

For some, walking certain streets is a requirement and unavoidable, but for many it can be a choice and whether we make that choice is often determined by the road conditions that would be faced on that trip.

I think at the heart of the decision to walk along the street, people will have to ask, “Is this a place that I belong?” This will be answered by whether there is a sidewalk, the sidewalk condition, whether there is a tree lawn and how wide is it, and whether there are other safety measures like a wall separating vehicles from pedestrians, or bollards along the roadway.

Tree Lawns to the Rescue

The presence and width of a tree lawn is of particular importance. That width should be proportional to the speed and amount of vehicle traffic on the road. A 45MPH street requires a wider tree lawn than a 35MPH, and a 35MPH street requires a wider tree lawn than a 25MPH street. If the tree lawn width (or other measures – walls, bollards) are not sufficient, then the foot traffic that signals a vibrant community will not be present. This will be especially true of the “voluntary” foot traffic – people taking a walk, running, or doing an errand on-foot rather than drive.

Our country also has an unbalanced tolerance for sidewalks in disrepair versus roadways in disrepair. A sidewalk block with a 2-inch vertical gap to the next block would be equivalent to a 6-10 inch vertical gap in a road for a heavier/larger vehicle. We have certainly all seen some road potholes in our lives, but think of how many sidewalk block issues are just in your neighborhood compared to the last trip you took in a car.

---

“Streets and their sidewalks – the main public places of a city – are its most vital organs.”

— Jane Jacobs

---