COMPLETE STREETS DESIGN GUIDE

The Keyport Complete Streets Design Guide helps the Borough implement its Complete Streets Policy. It provides policy and design guidance for governmental agencies, consultants, private developers, community groups, and all others involved in street design decisions. This guide is the result of considerable data gathering, analysis, and public engagement. For more details, see the Complete Streets Existing Conditions Report (2020) and the Complete Streets Public Involvement Report (2021). This design guide serves as a bridge between policy and engineering. This guides offers concrete design direction on how to implement the Complete Streets Ordinance. Whereas the ordinance identifies the need for bike lanes, this document identifies where they should be built (among many other recommendations). Through the use of street and intersection typologies, this guide also provides a vision for what every street in Keyport should become. As such, the guide supports design and engineering. However, it is not a substitute for it; implementation will still require studies, design, and engineering. The distinct advantage with this document is that it provides the Borough a clear understanding of exactly what is needed on each street to build a complete street network. All recommendations made in this Design Guide are grounded in authoritative design guidelines published by the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), and the NJ Complete Streets Design Guide, among others. As the NJDOT’s Complete Street notes, the preeminent design manuals (including AASHTO’s A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets Sixth Edition, commonly referred to as the “Green Book”) emphasize the need for flexibility, and many engineers and designers adopt this strategy. However, in the past street designs have often adhered to the maximum and most auto and highway-oriented designs and standards, which has led to the creation of incomplete streets. An example of this is the use of a “standard” 12-foot lane. Many engineers and designers have referenced the AASHTO “Green Book” for this standard. However, the guide itself recognizes the need for flexibility and states that lane width can be tailored to fit the roadway environment. AASHTO states that lane widths may vary from 10 to 12 feet on most arterials rather than stating that 12 feet is the recommended width for all roads. Another example is the design of separated bicycle lanes. The AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities does not include design guidance for these facilities. In the past, this has been used as an argument that such facilities are not safe or free from liability. However, the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design Guide and the FHWA Separated Bike Lane Planning and Design Guide do provide guidance. As the NJDOT’s Complete Street’s guide states, “the lack of guidance in one guide does not mean that a design is not safe or free from liability. Nor does it provide an excuse to not implement a particular design.” Because of this need for flexibility, FHWA developed a guide called Achieving Multimodal Networks: Applying Design Flexibility and Reducing Conflicts that is focused on the need and opportunities for design flexibility. This Design Guide implements that approach. The Borough has leveraged extensive research, community engagement, the above-mentioned design standards, and the technical expertise of designers and engineers to determine the most appropriate designs for Keyport’s streets, while still allowing flexibility to tailor designs to specific conditions.

source :

https://www.njtpa.org/NJTPA/media/Documents/Planning/Regional-Programs/Emerging-Centers/Keyport%20Complete%20Streets%20Implementation%20Plan/Keyport-CS-Design-Guide.pdf