Tonight the Plaza Branch of the KCMO Public Library hosts a lecture and book signing with Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic: Why We Drive The Way We Do. It’s a very interesting analysis of the psychological, physical, and technical factors of traffic.  The book includes bicycling and walking, so this event will be of interest to alternative transportation fans as well. Rainy Day Books will be selling Traffic at the event, and the author will sign copies purchased there this evening.

Tom Vanderbilt
Monday, September 14th, 6:30 p.m.
Plaza Branch Library
4801 Main Street, KCMO 64112 (map)
More info and RSVP.

Yesterday the KCMO City Council finally approved a complete overhaul of the city’s outdated planning/zoning/development regulations.  The new development code is a huge step towards more compact, sustainable, and multi-modal development.

Some highlights…

1. Pedestrian Zones: Ensures walkable streetscapes that are safe and inviting for pedestrians.
2. Reduced Parking Requirements: Businesses have to provide less parking -  facilitating redevelopment of older areas, paving less green space in new developments, and encourage more transit usage.
3. Bicycle Parking: new businesses and multi-family housing required to provide bicycle parking for visitors and customers, as well as enhanced bike parking for residents and employees.
4. Traffic Impact: developers must now study the impact on bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit users when their projects generate additional automobile traffic.

Read more about the development code…

The new code will start being phased in over six months and be fulling enforced in one year.  Advocates spent many hours negotiating with city staff and private developers, and many of you testified at public hearings or wrote letters to city officials.  All of that work paid off with a much better end result.

A common complaint about some traffic engineers is that they are overly focused on moving as many vechicles as fast as possible, often to the detriment of the quality of life in the neighborhoods through which those vehicles travel.  There is a perceived arrogance that engineers are unwilling to listen to input from lay people, no matter familiar they are with the streets and traffic in their neighborhood.

This story from the Northeast News about the traffic circle at Benton Boulevard is the perfect example of why Public Works sometimes gets this bad rap.  Even though the engineer was probably right about the stop sign situationn, the way they handled it was totally inappropriate and just made matters worse.

Northeast News: City removes stop signs from Benton Circle