Ohio has been contending with a great deal of winter weather recently. While these conditions present challenges for all Ohioans getting to work, school, or all places in between, it also presents an opportunity to reconsider the design of our roadways based on the snow removal.
Snowfall provides a useful visual demonstration of how our built environment functions and how, in turn, we can make our streets safer.
While the practice of using snowfall to trace the behavior of automobile drivers, pedestrians, and children was first identified in 1901 by Camillo Stitte in his treatise City Planning According to Artistic Principles, it wasn’t until 2014 that a new term was coined to describe this phenomenon. Aaron Naparstek, founder of Streetblog, coined the term Sneckdown or ‘snowy neckdown[i]’ to describe the temporary curb extension caused by snowfall.
A sneckdown occurs where snow has built-up in the road but has not been flattened by traffic, essentially reshaping the curb. Sneckdowns show how the roadway is utilized by automobile traffic, as well as by pedestrians. In so doing, it can reveal how a roadway can be narrowed, providing more space for pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable road users (VRUs).
A corner sneckdown on a street corner in Boston, MA. Image by Matthew in Boston via flickr. Graphics by GOPC.
Curb extensions are just one of the many changes that snowfall can demonstrate on a roadway. Placement of islands or pedestrian refuges are another.
Many roadways, particularly intersections, are often overbuilt, much wider than they need to be and create difficulties for pedestrians who are trying to cross. This can create safety challenges and often leads to collision accidents involving motorist and VRUs.
Sneckdowns reveal how much of the roadway is actually being used by motorists, demonstrating that some paved surfaces are not actually used by automobiles while traversing the intersection. This, in turn, can show engineers where roadways can be improved through the introduction of refuge islands: a small section of pavement surrounded by asphalt or other road materials, where pedestrians can stop before finishing crossing a road.[ii]
A sneckdown in the middle of a roadway showing actual traffic patterns compared to roadway design. Image from Sofia, Bulgaria by Vassia Atanassova – Spiritia via Wikimedia.
Doubtful that such a change can happen just because of snow?
It has already inspired at least one permanent road change in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Following a major snowstorm in 2011, sneckdowns at the intersection of Baltimore and 48th Street ultimately led to upgraded pedestrian improvements to the roadway with three permanent curb bump-outs. The work was completed in 2013.
So next time you are making your way through your snow-covered community, check out where the flow of traffic is actually traveling down the roadways. Chances are the infrastructure is overbuilt and opportunities to improve the intersections will be a clear as day.
[i] A neckdown, aka curb extension or bump-out, is a traffic calming measure which widens the sidewalk for a short distance. This reduces the crossing distance and allows pedestrians and drivers to see one another when parked vehicles would otherwise block visibility.
[ii] Refuge island description via Wikipedia.