Downtown Form-Based Code - City of Overland Park

503. Street Type SpecificationsThe Street Type Specifications illustrate typical configurations for streetspaceswithin the Form District. The plans and sections specify vehicular travellane widths, curb radii, sidewalks, tree planting areas, and on-street parkingconfigurations. They also provide a comparative pedestrian crossing time as agauge of relative pedestrian crossing-comfort between the various street types.A. Intent and Principles1. General Intenta. Streets are a community’s first and foremost public spaces andshould be just as carefully designed and planned as any park orpublic building. The character of the street-space—both its scaleand its details—plays a critical role in determining the pedestrianquality of a given location.b. Streets must balance the needs of all forms of traffic—auto, transit,bicycle and pedestrian—to maximize mobility and convenience forall residents and users. Their character will vary depending on theirlocation: some streets will carry a large volume of traffic and providea more active and intense urban pedestrian experience while otherswill provide a less active and more intimately scaled street-space.c. Streets should be developed to create people-oriented placesbalancing all transportation modes. The neighborhood streets aredesigned primarily for walkability and pedestrian comfort, withautomobile movement as a secondary focus. The Major Urbanstreet-type provides a higher level of vehicular movement whilemaintaining fair walkability.2. Principlesa. The appropriate design of streets is one of the most importantdesign elements for an urban neighborhood and center.b. To design for continuous free-flowing vehicle traffic createssituations where vehicles will travel at speeds greater than desirablefor pedestrians.c. With appropriate design, drivers will choose slower speeds and lessaggressive behavior, a feat typically not achieved through basic speedlimit signage/postings.d. Scale is a threshold design consideration for street design elements(from signage to crossing distances)—in a Neighborhood, Town orCity it should be that of the pedestrian.e. An interconnected street network provides for more balanced trafficvolumes.f. Emergency vehicle access must be maintained, but with aninterconnected street network, there will always be at least tworoutes of access to any lot or parcel.g. Differences between “requirements” and “preferences” can besignificant—increased lane width and the accompanying increasedvehicle speed more often than not decrease the overall safety forpedestrians.40 Overland Park Form-Based CodeSeptember 2011