Treating the Symptoms - A Critical Review of ... - Civic Exchange

TrafficOne of the goals of the URA laid out in the Urban RenewalStrategy is “designing more effective and environmentallyfriendlylocal transport and road networks”. In practice, thismeans that large sites are re-planned to increase efficiencyand reduce circulating traffic around the site boundaries.Traffic engineers have traditionally favoured comprehensivedevelopments because they can more efficientlyaccommodate traffic using the following measures, whileusing up less floor area:1.2.3.4.Reducing the number of entrances and exits on street.Fewer entrances leading to internal service lanes,drop-off points, taxi ranks, bus stops, and loading baysreduce the need to stop on-street.Eliminating cross streets. In addition to providing extradevelopable GFA, cross streets are removed becausefrequent intersections disrupt the flow of traffic.Providing off-street parking so that cars do not have topark at the kerb, narrowing roads and reducing trafficflow.Widening roads. Where possible, building setbacks areprovided in order to widen existing roads.Yet the benefits are not clear-cut. Reducing circulatingtraffic may encourage rat-running, i.e. speeding throughminor roads to avoid more congested arterial roads. Newlydecongested roads may also attract more traffic and fillup again. The provision of off-street parking can also becounter-productive, because it encourages car ownershipand driving. 176Additionally, because URA redevelopments substantiallyincrease density, they may bring more traffic to theneighbourhood. The relationship between density andtraffic congestion is not straightforward — it dependson many local factors like the shape of the site, whetherthe front entrance is near a key junction, the layout andcapacity of the surrounding streets, and whether the site iswell-served by public transportation. Nonetheless there is arisk that the additional pressure on arterial routes may wipeout efficiencies gained from reducing circulating trafficcongestion around the site boundaries.While major URA developments are required to submittraffic impact assessments to the TPB, these assessmentsare not necessarily reliable because it is in the interest ofthe applicant to use assumptions and figures that portraythe project in a favourable light. 177 While the TPB andTransport Department may reject the assessment if thefigures seem too unrealistic, this is not a substitute for anunbiased assessment.From an urban design point of view, these trafficimprovements often result in pedestrian-unfriendlyenvironments. Reducing entrances, eliminating crossstreets, and prioritizing vehicular movement reducespedestrian permeability, reduces active frontages, andremoves vibrancy. Multi-storey car parks and large busterminuses can also be eyesores.There are alternative ways of dealing with traffic in districtswith narrow streets and small blocks, which are friendlierto pedestrians and the environment. They include trafficcalming, traffic restraint, and pedestrianization. Instead oftrying to increase the flow of traffic, the goal is to prioritizepedestrians. Pavement widening, carriageway narrowing,reducing parking facilities, tree planting, kerbless crossingsand vehicle restrictions aim to physically and psychologicallyslow cars down and discourage vehicle use.This sort of traffic management is relatively new to HongKong, having been first trialled by the Transport Departmentin the early 2000s in selected districts. The URA has onlyvery recently started to incorporate some of these ideasinto its projects in a piecemeal way. It has reduced parkingfacilities at the Graham Street/Peel Street project, and hasincorporated limited pedestrian schemes into traditionalCDAs such as the Hanoi Road K11 project. Lee TungStreet will be pedestrianized after redevelopment, but onlyif the adjacent Amoy Street is opened up to through traffic.The URA announced its biggest traffic calming scheme sofar in late 2009: a revitalization project for Mong Kok’sspecialized shopping streets 179 as part of the PlanningDepartment’s “Area Improvement Plan for Shopping Areasin Mongkok”. 18089