Designing Livable Streets and Trails Guide
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Photo courtesy of Metro
On October 24th, 2019, Metro, our Portland metropolitan area regional government, released an updated version of their “Designing Livable Streets and Trails Guide.” GreenWorks was part of the team that contributed updates to it.
“Metro’s Designing Livable Streets and Trails Guide provides design guidance for our regional streets and trails. The guidelines were developed to help implement the 2040 Growth Concept and the Regional Transportation Plan.”
— Metro
It’s a set of design guidelines that require transportation infrastructure to be designed to serve the people and environments they’re built in, not just the vehicles that use it. The updates refresh the well-known guide and provide some important updates, prioritizing livability, safety, and reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.
We’re particularly proud of our work because Metro will be requesting money from voters through a transportation bond this November that will use these guidelines if funded.
Metro hired Kittelson & Associates to partner with GreenWorks, sparks+sullivan, and KLik Concepts to develop graphics, write new guidance for innovative stormwater infrastructure, and update information about integrating trails. That means our input may have a big impact on our region’s future.
“The guide acknowledges the negative impacts transportation can have on water,” said Lake McTighe, senior transportation planner at Metro. “It highlights how important green streets can be to solving this.”