Category: Blog
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50 Years of Bicycle Policy in Davis, CA
I had the great pleasure of reading Theodore Buehler’s 2007 dissertation, Fifty Years of Bicycle Policy in Davis, CA. In this work, Buehler covers how Davis became the cycling capital that we know it as today, along with identifying what challenges were faced by the city since the 1990s due to the slowing of bicycle…
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5th Street: A Cinderella Story
If you frequent downtown Sacramento, you’ve likely noticed the recent changes on 5th Street. Until September 2024, 5 th St. (aka the Street), was a two-lane, one-way street – widening to three lanes, north of N – that served to shuffle cars northbound through downtown, past the state capitol. A steady river of traffic raced past…
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Bulk Controls
“Bulk controls” are an important type of planning and zoning regulation. But these regulations can go too far when they restrict or even ban some of our most cost-effective housing types.
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Things That Work: Traffic Posts
You don’t often hear news about the crashes that didn’t happen. Today we’d like to highlight something already making real-world safety impacts in Sacramento: traffic posts (aka. delineators) on 15th & 16th Streets in Downtown. These traffic posts reduce the speed of cars (and severity of injuries) as well as channelize traffic – stopping cars…
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Local Groups Transform Downtown Street Parking into Community Parklets for Park(ing) Day
On September 21, a dozen of us transformed just 2 parking spots downtown outside Cafe Xocolatl into a vibrant community living room. We brought over 70 people to enjoy games, community, and art for an afternoon. This was our first tactical urbanism event, and we thank everyone who made it happen!
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Active Street Typology
Active streets form the backbone of the active transportation network.
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Local Street Typology
Local Streets are where motor vehicles are guests, safety for people outside of cars is prioritized, and economic and social vibrancy are promoted.
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Modal Filters
Traffic violence was not a defining issue of Sacramento until cars entered the equation. Modal filters hold the key to re-defining the purpose of neighborhood streets by eliminating through-traffic, supporting local businesses, reversing the suburban experiment, and saving lives.
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Street Typologies Overview
To fulfill the city’s Streets for People goal and the 2040 General Plan, streets must be designed and redesigned in a way that sets a different vision for the purpose of streets.
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Lane Widths
Over 80% of the fatalities and serious injuries on Sacramento roadways happen on streets signed between 30 and 45 mph. Taking a serious approach to Vision Zero will mean addressing these higher-speed, higher-volume roads. Managing street lane widths is one important tool in the toolbox of street (re)design.