Safe Street Infrastructure

Safe and accessible street infrastructure supports increased travel by foot or bicycle, contributing to increased physical activity and enhanced mental health.

Key Terms

• Safe Street Infrastructure features in street design that support use by pedestrians and bicyclists, such as traffic controls, calming elements, high intersection density, sidewalks and bicycle paths or lanes. 
• Bicycle Lane is a dedicated and protected road or path that is separated from motor vehicles and pedestrians, and reserved for bicyclists’ use. 
• Diagonal parking is street parking that is designed so that drivers enter and exit diagonally, to have an unobstructed view of traffic and can enter the traffic stream directly, rather than parking that is parallel or perpendicular to the roadway.
• Signalized Crosswalks have electronic indicators and traffic lights that stop vehicles when the walk sign is “on.”

Strategy Insights

• Multifamily Residential
  • The node/link is not required to extend for 1/4 mile; it just needs to "occur" somewhere within the 1/4 mile area. 
• Site
  • Elements must be provided from at least two categories on each of 51% of the street intersections or mid-block crossings.

Documentation Guidance 

• Demonstrate installing/implementing two total safe street infrastructure elements, with the clarification that you can only pick a maximum of one from each of the five listed categories.
• Include annotations on all photographs or documentation to clearly indicate which safe street infrastructure element is shown.