Inter-city & Intra-city Circulation

Submitted By:

Anjali – 2K6/ARCH/606Natasha – 2K6/ARCH/617

Rajat – 2K6/ARCH/624

Circulation

• The function of a city's circulation system is to provide for the movement of people and goods. It ranges from the movement of an individual on foot to the daily hordes of commuters entering and leaving the city from distant points.

• It comprehends automobiles, buses, trucks, and railroads on the surface, underground and overhead ships and airplanes. It is the series of routes traversed for a variety of purposes work, entertainment, shopping, transport of raw materials and manufactured products, education, relaxation, affairs of state, and law enforcement. The mixture of these demands for transport, and the vehicles to serve them, compounds the equation for the system.

• It embraces walkways, service lanes, major streets, highways, freeways, the rights-of way for rail lines, and airway routes.

• Since one-third of the land in the urban community is devoted to the road system, it forms an important component in the functioning of the city.

A Place to Walk : The amazing attachment which man has for the wheel of his car results in the

automobile being used for a trip to the corner grocery only two blocks from home. This has impelled the subdivider of lots for sale to assume that streets must go in all directions, for he was never quite sure on which corner the stores might be built. With some reasonable planning preceding the subdivision of land today, the street system may be simplified and restoration of the walking habit has some prospects for fulfillment. Internal walks through the sites of large-scale housing developments provide safe and pleasant circulation to the various community facilities.

The most economical, convenient, and maneuverable means of movement is locomotion on foot.

The Right-of-Way.:

Since one-third of the land in the urban community is devoted to the road system, it is pertinent to observe how this land came into public ownership.

In early times travel over the safest and most easily traversed routes created "public" roadways through usage. Since the basic ownership of all land was the sovereign right of the state, it was normal for the ruler to designate "post" roads and highways to assure protection for channels of communication between communities.

When ownership was granted to individuals, the head of the state provided for a means of access to property, although some passageways remained toll roads until a very late date. In cities the subdivision of land into individual parcels was regulated by decree to maintain certain open spaces for travel and safety against fire.

This practice is reflected in modern subdivision design whereby the state, in granting the right to individuals to subdivide land, requires that the roadways which give access to property be dedicated to public use. Streets thus dedicated to public use and accepted by the city for maintenance may either remain as public easements for such time as they are required as streets or they may be deeded to the city in "fee simple."

The Regional System:

Following old Indian trails, the winding, twisting, meandering routes between communities became the post roads, the plank roads, and the high roads. These were the trade routes between centers of population and between the rural areas where products were grown and the towns where they were marketed.

Like the roads in the center of the early city, they followed the easy why irrespectiveof property boundaries. As property ownership was formalized the roads served asdividing lines. They represented access to property and a way to and from markets.Most of the important regional links follow, to some extent, these original lines.

With the expansion of communities, many of these primitive roadways have been lost in themaze of internal growth* They left their mark, however, as the basis for orientation of other

streets and highways, parallel and perpendicular to these original spinal lines.

With the expansion and congestion of cities, the intercommunity roads collapsed under the impact of traffic loads.

The Traffic Lane:

Traffic hazards arise from excessive speed, but they may be due also to deficiencies in the design of roadways. Separations between traffic traveling in opposite directions and the elimination of intersections are essential. The provision of off-street parking so curb parking may be prohibited is necessary; only one disabled car can reduce a three-lane roadway to a two-lane street and add the hazard of rapid accumulation of vehicles at this bottleneck.

Given the free flow of traffic which these improvements offer, the effectiveness of the motor car depends upon the shape of the roadway over which it travels.

Traffic lanes vary from 8 to 15 feet and this variation is not a fault until it occurs within the same line of travel. The local street may have a width of 10 feet and the through-traffic artery may be 12 feet, but the width should be constant for each. Local streets serving residential areas are customarily designed for a lane of 10 feet, being 4 feet wider than the standard automobile and none too great a separation between two moving vehicles passing at a rate of 25 miles per hour.

Street Design:

The gridiron street plan formed a pattern of rectangular blocks divided into rectangular lots which were usually very narrow to conserve on utility lines and very deep to conserve on streets. The curvilinear design was then devised to give some semblance of "character" to the subdivision, or subdue the deadly monotony of parallel streets stretching to infinity.

The alternative soon developed into a curved grid, a series of parallel curved streets, with no more living amenities than the rectangular grid provided. The more exaggerated of the "designs" assumed the form of a violently swirling street system in which orientation was completely obscured.

It is customary to maintain the narrowest practicable width for local residential streets which serve only the abutting properly. When parking is desired on each side of the street, the right-of-way is between 54 and 64 feet wide, with a pavement width of 36 feet. The paved surface may be as narrow as 30 feet, but this suggests parking on one side only since the traffic lanes should not be less than 9 feet wide.

Circulation – Element of Urban Design

• Circulation refers to movement which may be to and fro in an urban landscape.

Traffic safety:Traffic safety: Conditions such as narrow streets, an incomplete street network, and

poor sight distances at some intersections may contribute to traffic safety hazards unless mitigated by street improvements, traffic engineering activities, and traffic law enforcement.

ParkingParking: An inadequate parking near Main Street hinder business activity and in

the future unless improvements are implemented these contribute to congestion, safety problems, and frustration.

Street Capacity and Service:Street Capacity and Service: As the city grows, increased traffic on the street system will follow. So

there is a need to balance growth and accommodate traffic and widen the roads and increase the frequency of inter-state and intra-city transportation services.

Non-motorized TransportationNon-motorized Transportation: The city needs to provide a safe transportation system

for pedestrians and bicyclists, which shall include the upgrading of existing curbs and sidewalks.

Public Transportation:Public Transportation: Public transportation should be increased as growth

occurs and demand increases.

Aesthetics:Aesthetics: Attention should be given as to how the roadways,

streets and pedestrian ways contribute to the overall fabric of the city.

Street DesignGRID IRON- The gridiron street plan is formed by a pattern of rectangular

blocks divided into rectangular lots .CURVILINEAR - The curvilinear design was then devised to give some semblance

of "character" to the subdivision, or subdue the deadly monotony of parallel streets stretching to infinity. The alternative soon developed into a curved grid, a series of parallel curved streets.

When parking is desired on each side of the street - 54 and 64 feet wide, with a pavement width of 36 feet.

The paved surface may be as narrow as 30 feet, but this suggests parking on one side only since the traffic lanes should not be less

than 9 feet wide.

TYPES OF STREET

TYPES OF STREETTYPES OF STREET

INTERCHANGES OF HIGHWAYS

INTERCHANGESOF HIGHWAYS

Road Intersections

& Walkways

Each intersection should include a designated crosswalk area to enable comfortable and safe pedestrian crossing.

Crosswalks should be at least 2m in width.

Pedestrian crossings should be marked and should have proper signage.

Parking lot Walkways

Parking areas should incorporate pedestrian walkways to enable safe and direct movement to building entrances.

Pedestrian crossings should be marked and should have proper signage.

Transit & Transport

Bus stops should be located in close proximity to activity nodes, such as commercial retail areas.

These should include shelters for weather protection.

Residential Street

Interconnectivity

Streets should be interconnected to provide options for direct access to adjoining areas. Cul-de-sacs & dead-end streets should not be permitted except where no practical alternatives are available.

Blocks greater than 250m in length should include a mid block pedestrian link .

Mixed – Use Main Streets

Commercial street sidewalks should be at least 2.0m wide, but 3.0m is preferred.

The curb edge may be constructed of a different material to identify the limits of sidewalk for visually impaired pedestrians.

Side lanes for two-wheelers should be at least 1.5m in width.

Major Roads

Landscaped boulevards should be ~2.5m wide.

Trees should be planted generally every 6~9m & low level plantings such as flower beds, shrubs must be included.

Neighbourhood Streets

Alternative streets are suitable for local residential streets, or to connect existing residential neighbourhoods.

These roads reduce vehicular accidents, & increase neighbourhood safety & also facilitate access by emergency vehicles.

Street Trees

These should be planted to provide visual & natural connection to existing open spaces, parks, & community assets.

These should planted every 6~9m.

Bicycle & Trail Connections

Neighbourhoods should have strong physical connections & links into parks & other open spaces.

Streets located adjacent to open space, pedestrian & bicycle crossings should be clearly designated for safety.

Transit & Transport

Bus stops should be located in close proximity to activity nodes, such as commercial retail areas.

These should include shelters for weather protection.

Circulation in some Indian cities

Master Plan of Chandigarh• The city roads have been divided into

7 V’s which cater to the road traffic. The road network is as follows:-

V1 – It brings the traffic from outside the city the city. It is known as ARTERIAL INTER-STATE ROADS.

V2 – Two arteries of the city MADHYA MARG AND JAN MARG.

V3 – They are the SECTOR DEFINERS and bind the city on four sides.

V4 – This runs through the shopping center in each sector and runs across to connect V3 on both sides.

V5 – It is the loop road going round in the interior of the sector.

V6 – This is the access lane to the houses.

V7 & V8 – Meandering through the green spaces they are the pedestrian paths, cycle tracks throughout the city.

The 7 V’s were established 10 years ago at the request of UNESCO to try to constitute and eventual acceptable proposition of urbanisms for general world applications.

Jaipur • The city was planned according

to Indian Vastu Shastra (Vedic Planning for the comfort and prosperity of the citizens). The directions of each street and market are East to West and North to South.

• The town of Jaipur is built in the form of a eight-part Mandala known as the 'Pithapada'. Nine signifies the nine planets of the ancient astrological zodiac. It is also known that Sawai Jai Singh II was a great astronomer and a town planner, and hence the 'Pithapada'. Also, the commercial shops are designed in multiples of nine (27), having one cross street for a planet.

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