Sneckdown

Last updated
A sneckdown on a corner in Allston, MA Corner sneckdown.jpg
A sneckdown on a corner in Allston, MA

A sneckdown (or snowy neckdown) is a temporary curb extension caused by snowfall, where snow has built up in the road but not been flattened by traffic, effectively reshaping the curb. Sneckdowns show how the space is being used by vehicle and foot traffic, and may reveal points where a street could be usefully narrowed with neckdowns to slow motor vehicle speeds and shorten pedestrian crossing distances.

Contents

The term was coined by Streetsblog founder Aaron Naparstek in 2014, [1] [2] popularized by Streetfilms director Clarence Eckerson, Jr. and spread widely via social media. [3] Other Twitter hashtags that have been used to describe snow-based traffic-calming measures include #plowza, #slushdown, #snovered and #snowspace. [4]

Sneckdown showing a triangle of less used road space on a T-intersection in Sofia Sneckdown in Sofia, 2017-01-19 - highlight.jpg
Sneckdown showing a triangle of less used road space on a T-intersection in Sofia

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at Baltimore and 48th Street, a sneckdown-inspired permanent upgrade to the pedestrian environment was made in 2011. [5] In the 1980s, some planners in Australia distributed cake flour in intersections to observe patterns of vehicle movement hours later. [4]

Documenting sneckdowns is an autographic design practice that takes advantage of the self-inscribing qualities of snow. [6] The practice of using snow to trace the behavior of vehicles, pedestrians, and playing children was already described in Camillo Sitte's 1901 urban design treatise. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sidewalk</span> Pedestrian path along the side of a road

A sidewalk, pavement, footpath in Australia, India, New Zealand and Ireland, or footway is a path along the side of a road. Usually constructed of concrete, pavers, brick, stone, or asphalt, it is designed for pedestrians. A sidewalk is normally higher than the roadway, and separated from it by a kerb. There may also be a planted strip between the sidewalk and the roadway and between the roadway and the adjacent land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roundabout</span> Traffic intersection

A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are all, with certain distinctions between them, a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traffic calming</span> Road design measures that raise the safety of pedestrians and motorists

Traffic calming uses physical design and other measures to improve safety for motorists, car drivers, pedestrians and cyclists. It has become a tool to combat speeding and other unsafe behaviours of drivers. It aims to encourage safer, more responsible driving and potentially reduce traffic flow. Urban planners and traffic engineers have many strategies for traffic calming, including narrowed roads and speed humps. Such measures are common in Australia and Europe, but less so in North America. Traffic calming is a calque of the German word Verkehrsberuhigung – the term's first published use in English was in 1985 by Carmen Hass-Klau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Street</span> Public thoroughfare in a built environment

A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, but is more often paved with a hard, durable surface such as tarmac, concrete, cobblestone or brick. Portions may also be smoothed with asphalt, embedded with rails, or otherwise prepared to accommodate non-pedestrian traffic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curb extension</span> Traffic calming measure

A curb extension 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 each other when parked vehicles would otherwise block visibility. The practice of banning car parking near intersections is referred to as daylighting the intersection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pedestrian zone</span> Urban car-free area reserved for pedestrian use

Pedestrian zones are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or human-powered transport such as bicycles, with non-emergency motor traffic not allowed. Converting a street or an area to pedestrian-only use is called pedestrianisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lane</span> Part of a carriageway meant for a single line of vehicles

In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each direction, separated by lane markings. On multilane roadways and busier two-lane roads, lanes are designated with road surface markings. Major highways often have two multi-lane roadways separated by a median.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Living street</span> Traffic calming in spaces shared between road users

A living street is a street designed with the interests of pedestrians and cyclists in mind by providing enriching and experiential spaces. Living streets also act as social spaces, allowing children to play and encouraging social interactions on a human scale, safely and legally. Living streets consider all pedestrians granting equal access to elders and those who are disabled. These roads are still available for use by motor vehicles; however, their design aims to reduce both the speed and dominance of motorized transport. The reduction of motor vehicle dominance creates more opportunities for public transportation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shared space</span> Roads unsegregated by travel mode

Shared space is an urban design approach that minimises the segregation between modes of road user. This is done by removing features such as curbs, road surface markings, traffic signs, and traffic lights. Hans Monderman and others have suggested that, by creating a greater sense of uncertainty and making it unclear who has priority, drivers will reduce their speed, in turn reducing the dominance of vehicles, reducing road casualty rates, and improving safety for other road users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curb</span> Edge where a sidewalk meets a road

A curb, or kerb, is the edge where a raised sidewalk or road median/central reservation meets a street or other roadway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Road diet</span> Transportation planning technique

A road diet is a technique in transportation planning whereby the number of travel lanes and/or effective width of the road is reduced in order to achieve systemic improvements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walkability</span> How accessible a space is to walking

In urban planning, walkability is the accessibility of amenities by foot. It is based on the idea that urban spaces should be more than just transport corridors designed for maximum vehicle throughput. Instead, it should be relatively complete livable spaces that serve a variety of uses, users, and transportation modes and reduce the need for cars for travel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culver Boulevard Median Bike Path</span> Rail-trail cycle route in California, United States

The Culver Boulevard Median Bike Path is Class I rail trail bicycle path, walk route and linear park on Culver Boulevard in western Los Angeles County, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stockton Street (San Francisco)</span> Street in San Francisco, California, US

Stockton Street is a north-south street in San Francisco. It begins at Market Street passing Union Square, a major shopping district in the city. It then runs underground for about two and a half blocks in the Stockton Street Tunnel, passes through Chinatown and North Beach, and ends at Beach Street near the Pier 39 shopping center and tourist attraction.

Aaron Naparstek, is the founder of Streetsblog, a web site providing daily coverage of transportation, anti-automobile activism, land use and environmental issues in New York City. Since its founding in June 2006, Streetsblog has emerged as an influential forum for New York City's Livable Streets Movement, dedicated to reclaiming cities' public spaces from the automobile and improving conditions for pedestrians, cyclists and transit users. Streetsblog is published by OpenPlans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slip lane</span> Road at a junction which allows turning vehicles to bypass the intersection

In road design, a slip lane is a road at a junction that allows road users to change roads without actually entering an intersection. Slip lanes are "helpful ...for intersections designed for large buses or trucks to physically make a turn in the space allotted, or where the right turn is sharper than a 90 degree turn." Slip lanes may reduce congestion and "t-bone" motor vehicle collisions, but they increase the risk for pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders who cross the slip lane.

OpenPlans is a non-profit that advocates for making the streets of New York City livable for all residents. Open Plans uses tactical urbanism, grassroots advocacy, policy and targeted journalism to promote structural reforms within city government that support livable streets, neighborhoods and the city-at-large. The organization was founded in 1999 by Mark Gorton, the creator of LimeWire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protected intersection</span> At-grade road junction in which cyclists and pedestrians are separated from cars

A protected intersection or protected junction, also known as a Dutch-style junction, is a type of at-grade road junction in which cyclists and pedestrians are separated from cars. The primary aim of junction protection is to help pedestrians and cyclists be and feel safer at road junctions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smartphones and pedestrian safety</span>

Safety hazards have been noted due to pedestrians walking slowly and without attention to their surroundings because they are focused upon their smartphones. Texting pedestrians may trip over curbs, walk out in front of cars and bump into other walkers. The field of vision of a smartphone user is estimated to be just 5% of a normal pedestrian's.

References

  1. "Aaron Naparstek". Twitter.
  2. "Natural traffic control". The Economist. 13 February 2014.
  3. "Streetfilms - The Complete Origin of the #Sneckdown".
  4. 1 2 "Sneckdowns: Using Snow Pileup to Design Better Streets - New York YIMBY". New York YIMBY. 29 January 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  5. "Can Snow Inspire Better Streets? It Already Has". Streetsblog USA. 11 February 2014.
  6. Offenhuber, Dietmar (2023). Autographic Design - the Matter of Data in a Self-Inscribing World. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN   9780262547024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  7. Sitte, Camillo (1901). Der Städtebau Nach Seinen Künstlerischen Grundsätzen[City planning according to artistic principles]. Vienna: Graeser.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)