» Streets for exercising.
Cities closing streets to help residents exercise, extend restaurant seating
The forced distancing required by the coronavirus has prompted several cities to quickly close some public roads to make room so cooped-up residents anxious to get outside for exercise could do so safely.
Now, after moves to shut, narrow or repurpose streets from Oakland to Tampa, cities are seeking to understand how those emergency closures might have lasting impacts on some of urban America’s most important, and contested, real estate.
D.C. lawmakers are drafting legislation to make it easier for shutdown-battered restaurants to space out their tables by putting them on public roads, parking spaces and sidewalks at least for the next few months, and to give neighborhoods a way to close streets to traffic to make walking and biking safer.
The pandemic “has been terrible. But there are certain byproducts that, if we take advantage of them, will let us be more of an open city, more of a city that’s usable by all sorts of people, cafes and cyclists,” D.C. Councilwoman Mary Cheh said. “It’s an opportunity to stop doing things in the old polluting and unhealthful ways.”
Officials around the country say their moves to change public roadways have been met with broad support, though they acknowledge some early missteps, such as not giving enough emphasis to the specific needs of disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Some of the newly closed streets also were underused or met with objections from some businesses.
But cities have taken steps to address those concerns, including reopening some roads and closing others as they seek to get the balance right.
Oakland, Calif., home to one of the earliest and most ambitious “Slow Streets” plans, has been among the most open about early blind spots, with officials there saying humility and accountability are vital for cementing any such changes.
“While the program overall continues to receive overwhelming support among survey respondents, those responding to surveys are more likely to be white, have high incomes and live in North Oakland,” a more well-off swath of the city, officials wrote in a recent summary.
To address that, Oakland officials Friday broadened their effort beyond about 20 miles of “soft closures” of neighborhood streets. Those use barriers and signs to bar through-traffic in particular areas, but they allow residents, trash trucks and delivery vans to drive in slowly.
On Friday, as part of an expansion dubbed “Essential Places,” city officials unveiled barriers in less-well-off East Oakland that are intended to thwart speeding and help pedestrians walk and cross a sometimes-treacherous intersection more safely, with more coming soon in other areas.
“The program was not addressing what we would call arterials, the larger streets that carry buses and trucks,” said Ryan Russo, Oakland’s transportation director.
The city is targeting other such places, including those with high numbers of injuries and areas near essential services such as grocery stores, to add barriers and other safety measures for pedestrians. That’s on top of ongoing efforts to close dozens more miles of smaller neighborhood streets to through-traffic.
“The streets are 25 to 30 percent of any city’s land. We need to manage the public realm in a way that meets people’s needs in this moment and in the future,” Russo said.
“We’re only a couple generations removed from the nostalgia of stick ball in the streets and kids playing in streets,” he added, saying that phenomenon shifted to cul-de-sac communities in the suburbs. “There’s really no reason why cities can’t get the benefit of a more balanced management of the public right of way as well.”
Communities have different priorities and a different sense of what is possible and appropriate. In Tampa, Fla., the focus has been on finding ways to help businesses affected during the pandemic.
Mayor Jane Castor, a former police chief, has pushed a “Lift Up Local” campaign that allows restaurants to put tables in some public streets.
“We thought of ways they would be able to increase their customer base while keeping everyone safe. The best way to do that is to move everyone outside,” Castor said.
It’s something she sees as part of the city’s future fabric, she said, though this initial experiment is about to be shaken up by the Sunshine State’s weather.
“Really, for us in Florida, the end date will be determined by Mother Nature. It’s going to get so hot, and we’re going to get afternoon rain showers that just don’t make it an enjoyable experience to be dining outside,” Castor said.
“We’re only a couple generations removed from the nostalgia of stick ball in the streets and kids playing in streets. There’s really no reason why cities can’t get the benefit of a more balanced management of the public right of way as well.”
Ryan Russo, Oakland’s director of transportation