Originally Posted by
Rowan
And that in Australia is what you would call complete streets. But really, they are designed to temper the speed of vehicles through the vicinity.
It's just semantics. It works in certain urban environments, but doesn't work so well if the road is the only main route between on locale and another.
Some of the better examples I have seen again have been in Europe. But low speed limits help achieve a more amenable environment.
Actually, in some cases a complete street plan would not slow down the motor vehicles. As in your example of a main highway between two distant locations. People will naturally want to drive quickly there, so the most appropriate complete street design might be to separate the fast cars from other users. Cyclists might have a separate smoothly paved path so that they can travel quickly also.
I think we (cyclists in any given city or region) limit ourselves unnecessarily if we try a one size fits all solution. On one street, a separate cycle track might be the solution. One block over a bike lane might work best. Somewhere nearby might be suited for VC.