Last week, in my class on Environmental Analysis and Assessment, the topic was water and how transportation projects impact the water cycle. An example was given, using a new roundabout in LA that created a "stormwater detention landscape that traps water coming from the adjacent bridge." (Read more here.) The roundabout incorporates permeable pavers, reclaimed wastewater and plants that can withstand periods of drought. Additionally, this article by Tom Fassbender notes that structure hides a 25,000 gallon cistern to collect stormwater runoff. There is also some incredibly striking (or distracting?) public art in the center.
This discussion raised some passionate responses from my classmates who live near this roundabout. One who drives it regularly said that she experiences confused and dangerous drivers. And another who runs in the area said it is a terrible and stressful part of her route. The Fassbender article notes that one of the sculptures was hit by a confused driver, several years ago and remains broken and on it's side. And across the street, there is an empty concrete plaza that was meant to have an interactive water fountain. Instead it remains empty save a few metal picnic tables. I only know this area from what I can see on Google Maps, but this place looks mostly designed for cars and full of concrete. Though clearly, it serves as an important cache for stormwater, when LA receives an occasional influx of rain. Even though that doesn't happen often, preventing road chemicals from washing into nearby waterbodies is an important consideration.
After our class discussion, my KTH colleague shared a video with me about the "arrogance of space" that we allocate to cars. In it, Mikael Colville-Andersen laments how we give over such incredible amounts of space to our vehicles, even in some of our most walkable cities. And this is not just a US criticism. He gives examples from around the world. He demonstrates a free mapping tool that allows any of us to calculate how much space is given to cars, pedestrians, bicycles, buildings, public transit and green space. I highly recommend you checking it out, on an intersection with which you are familiar. I applied it to the business district in my neighborhood back home. For those of you who are not my neighbors, I can assure that Cooper Young is a very walkable place. The mapping tool concurs with a pretty good score of 28% of space dedicated to pedestrians:
But as you can see in red, there is still 45% of this intersection dedicated to cars.
Since the tool was so much fund, I wondered what that LA roundabout would look like. Here's the Google Maps image:
And here it is with the Arrogance of Space Mapping Tool:
I am not comparing the area of this roundabout and the Cooper Young intersection. But I am struck by there being almost the same amount of space for cars, in both.
So, how does this apply to what I'm seeing in Stockholm?!
Well, you won't be surprised that I found a really good roundabout here. One that has public art in the middle, buildings with street level businesses up close to the road, aa a sense of vibrancy and human-sized activity all around. I saw cafe tables full of Stockholmers soaking in the spring sun. And all the road users (pedestrians, car drivers, bicycles and scooter riders) were interacting carefully with each other. Additionally, where cars crossed pedestrian crossings, the road was raised to sidewalk level, to give an extra reminder to slow down.
Take a look at this intersection, from above:
And with the mapping tool:
The mapping tool shows only 24% of the space is given to cars. You can see that the roundabout itself has a pedestrian/bike path across its center (plus a second smaller path that people had worn by just walking the path they preferred), so people can actually interact with the art found in the middle. And there are lots of buildings, full of multi-story, multi-family homes, meaning there is a very high density of humans who can easily access this area. I stood and watched for a while and all the modes seemed to flow through pretty effortlessly. And the whole space felt lovely and inviting.
My determination from today's Swedish Immersion? Roundabouts can be great! Do you have any good examples in your community?
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