Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The reported success of the Kalamazoo (MI) mall opened in 1959, and the
Lincoln Road Mall in Miami Beach opened in 1960, spurred mall development
elsewhere. By the mid 1970s there were more than 70 malls in the United States and
Canada.
The malls and their surrounding commercial areas were designed similar to those
of the regional shopping centers. Improved streets parallel to the malls with easy
access to parking facilities located adjacent to or near the stores and of
ce build-
ings. Traf
c engineering treatments along parallel streets and at terminal points
made these malls
”
Some cities had malls that permitted buses (or light rail) through them. Examples
include the NIcollet Mall in Minneapolis, and the 16th Street Mall in Denver. In
these cases bus travel times were reduced since there was less con
“
congestion neutral.
fl
ict with auto-
mobile traf
c. Buses on the 16th Street Mall limit the time spent at bus stops to
board passengers and enable buses to maintain the traf
c signal progression set for
them.
Most pedestrian (and pedestrian
c is diverted to
adjacent parallel streets that sometimes operate one-way. Cross streets usually
continue across the mall to maintain continuity of the street system.
To minimize congestion, it is essential to provide a suitable transition of dis-
placed traf
—
transit streets) are linear. Traf
c to parallel streets. Sometimes the connections are provided via one-
way operations on cross streets.
20.2.3 Guidelines
The size, con
s
geography, street system, and development patterns both within and in the environs
of the area under consideration. Local history and geography, and congestion
severity, play an important role in developing traf
guration, and design of traf
c-free areas depends on each city
'
c free streets and zones. Typi-
cally pedestrian streets are less than one mile long, and sometimes they include
pedestrian cross-streets. Some general guidelines [
2
] are shown in Table
20.1
.
A discussion and extension of these guidelines include:
Pedestrian streets (malls) should be clear of obstructions and continuous.
Walking should be safe and pleasant
Sometimes traf
free streets are interrupted by cross streets that are needed to
maintain local circulation patterns
c
—
The streets should be wide enough to avoid overcrowded walking conditions.
Where transit vehicles are allowed on the traf
c
—
free streets, an additional
25 feet of width is needed
There should be no parking and good-loading facilities directly along traf
c-free
streets. These activities should be located along parallel or cross streets
