Street Road, a thoroughfare cutting through the Philadelphia suburb of Bensalem, is a public safety disaster. PennDOT is investing in safety along the road, but locals say much more needs to be done.
Jason Lauglin reports on the conditions of Street Road in Philadelphia, but the premise of the article builds on its ubiquity around the country:
Where you live it’s called something else, but you’ve driven these miles of mismatched commerce -- Kohls, Kmart, and Golden Corral sharing a streetscape with motels, churches, and family businesses ensconced in old converted houses.
Laughlin reports that Street Road is also particularly unsafe: "Of the 50 locations in the five-county region with the highest concentration of car crashes in 2015, four were on the stretch of Street Road in Bensalem bracketed by I-95 and Route 1."
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has invested $3.8 million in Street Road since 2015, but none of those changes meet the recommendations of a 2008 report from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission [pdf].
The article digs into the history of Street Road and the characteristics that make it particularly unsafe.
FULL STORY: Brake lights, sharp turns, and sudden stops on Bucks County's crash-prone Street Road
‘Modular Roundabouts’ Offer Quick-Build Traffic Safety Solution
The prefabricated roundabouts can be installed more quickly and at a much lower cost than traditional concrete traffic circles.
Book Review: Killed By A Traffic Engineer
In a new book, engineering professor Wes Marshall explains why American roads are so unsafe.
Planners’ Complicity in Excessive Traffic Deaths
Professor Wes Marshall’s provocatively-titled new book, "Killed by a Traffic Engineer," has stimulated fierce debates. Are his criticisms justified? Let’s examine the degree that traffic engineers contribute to avoidable traffic deaths.
What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.
‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge
Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.
The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan
Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.
Healing Through Parks: Altadena’s Path to Recovery After the Eaton Fire
In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena is uniting to restore Loma Alta Park, creating a renewed space for recreation, community gathering, and resilience.
San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.
Electric Vehicles for All? Study Finds Disparities in Access and Incentives
A new UCLA study finds that while California has made progress in electric vehicle adoption, disadvantaged communities remain underserved in EV incentives, ownership, and charging access, requiring targeted policy changes to advance equity.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research