Lancaster Blvd,
Lancaster, CA
The Federal Environmental Protection Agency has awarded overall excellence to the Lancaster Boulevard project in Lancaster, California.
In a charrette conducted by Moule and Polyzoides, Peter Swift acted as design engineer for the project. Drawing on two precedent types, he came up with the idea of combining center street diagonal parking with the pedestrian friendly Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain. In addition, the old 4 lane street was reduced to 2 lanes in a Road Diet configuration.
The city estimates that the project has resulted in $273 million in economic output and $130 million in private investment.
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His post-charrette followup included the development of detailed CAD drawings, fire access modeling and pedestrian access enhancements.
The goal of maintaining maximum 15 mph vehicle speeds was achieved along with robust pedestrian immersion in this shared environment.
The prime consultant, Moule and Polyzoides, completed the Master Plan for this corridor through the City of Lancaster. The engineering drawings were completed and the project entirely built within two years. It also received awards from the American Planning Association.
Notice in the following movie clp (courtesy David Sargent) how the traffic is well behaved. At the end of the clip a vehicle moves into the center waiting to cross, while the vehicle behind pauses before entering.