Context-Sensitive Solutions for Bicycles and Pedestrians: Some Lessons Learned in New England

This paper summarizes the presentations from a session on context sensitive solutions (CSS) and non-motorized transportation at a June 2007 conference, Transportation and Historic Preservation: Context Sensitive Solutions in an Era of Budget Constraints. The authors, the session moderator, and speakers presented a series of case studies in order to evaluate what factors led to successful bicycle and pedestrian transportation improvements during a range of design processes. The case studies included both rural and urban examples on a range of roadway types. Considering the cases together leads to three lessons that must be reinforced for CSS to be successful for pedestrian and bicycle transportation. First, a full process with a priori complete plans results in the best successes. Efforts with a single objective and focus, even if well-intentioned, result in failure. Second, CSS cannot rely on only stakeholders to define the scope and need within a project. While regional plans and formal advocacy organizations are very positive and necessary elements, multimodalism and “complete streets” must be required constraints, not optional, in CSS. Finally, rural areas require innovative design treatments for bicycle and pedestrian transportation and more work is needed to create safe solutions that are in harmony with the environment.