Effectiveness of Changes in Street Layout and Design for Reducing Barriers to Walking

This study analyzed the effectiveness of two types of interventions to reduce built environment barriers to walking: changing the layout of the local street network (by increasing the density and connectivity of the links available to pedestrians) and redesigning a busy road (by adding crossing facilities, reducing the speed limit, or reallocating road space to pedestrians). The analysis focused on a residential neighborhood in London that was being extensively redeveloped. Anticipated effects of the interventions are assessed in regard to distance, delay, risk, and environmental quality of walking trips from residences to public transport nodes. The study also addressed methodological issues by modeling the off-street space available to pedestrians and considering alternative hypotheses for pedestrian route choice. Results show that, in this neighborhood, changes to the street layout always reduced delay and improved the pedestrian environment, although the changes might have increased trip distances and collision risk. Adding crossing facilities reduced risk but did not decrease delay, while reducing the number of vehicle lanes reduced distance and delay but might increase risk. All types of intervention improved the pedestrian environment, even in the cases of routes chosen to minimize delay or exposure to traffic.