Shirekeep's Roads

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Kaiser Hjalmar Redquill
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Shirekeep's Roads

Post by Kaiser Hjalmar Redquill »

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Shirekeep Road Design

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The most basic design standard implemented by the Commission during the reconstruction of Shirekeep's roads. (Note that size of carriageways vary from location to location.)


Until very recently, streets in Shirekeep served not only as transportation routes but as the front yards and public squares of the city. Cars, horse-drawn carriages, people on foot or horseback, and, later, bicycles and streetcars shared streets with pushcart vendors, outdoor markets, children playing, and neighbors socializing. City streets were vibrant, though plagued by safety, sanitation, and mobility problems.

The Shirekeep Reconstruction Commission's overall goals and principles with the design of Shirekeep's streets are:
  • 1. Design for safety
    2. Design to balance local access and mobility
    3. Design for context
    4. Design streets as public spaces
    5. Design for sustainability and resiliency
    6. Design for cost-effectiveness
Design for Safety
The city’s efforts to enhance street safety through engineering, education, and enforcement have contributed to a dramatic drop in the number of pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries in the past 41 ASC years since the inception of the Commission. Designing safe streets will continue to be a top priority for the Shirekeep Reconstruction Commission.
  • - Prioritize safety for all street users, particularly more vulnerable groups (children, the elderly, those with disabilities) and more vulnerable modes (walking, bicycling).
    - Design local streets for slower speeds to reduce the number of crashes and to discourage cut-through traffic.
    - Research, test, and evaluate innovative safety treatments, particularly those successfully adopted in other cities.
Design to Balance Local Access and Mobility
Street designs should provide efficient ways to move people and goods and improve the economic vitality of Shirekeep, but not at the expense of safety and community needs; street designs should therefore balance access within neighborhoods with mobility through them.
  • - Provide safe, accessible, convenient, and comfortable facilities for walking, bicycling, and transit, particularly on designated routes and at critical network connections.
    - Accommodate truck traffic and deliveries while minimizing their negative impacts on neighborhoods.
    - Meet or exceed appropriate standards for accessible design for facilities in the public right-of-way.
    - Accommodate emergency vehicle access.
Design for Context
Streets help define the character of neighborhoods. Except for standard furniture, materials, and lighting, a street’s design should interact with the surrounding
context, including its history, land uses, and nearby landmarks.
  • - Preserve the unique character of Shirekeep's neighborhoods.
    - Support connections to adjacent land uses by providing gathering spaces and pedestrian access to and from major destinations.
    - Maintain aesthetic consistency within neighborhoods and corridors.
Design Streets as Public Spaces
Beyond their use for moving people and goods, streets comprise an extensive network of public open spaces that can facilitate social, civic, and economic interactions.
  • - Expand usable public open space by reallocating underutilized roadway space for pedestrian plazas, expanded sidewalks, corner and mid-block curb extensions, and opportunities for green planted areas.
    - Design streets to encourage physical activity for all ages and populations by making walking, bicycling, and transit attractive and convenient.
    - Design local streets to be traffic-calmed environments that encourage walking, bicycling, and recreational activities.
    - Expand the availability of public seating and bicycle racks.
Design for Sustainability and Resiliency
Streets present an extraordinary opportunity to improve the environmental health of Shirekeep. Collaborate across agencies in testing, evaluating, and standardizing new materials so that streets are constructed in an environmentally sound way, and respond effectively to more frequent intense storms and catastrophic weather events.
  • - Minimize impermeable surfaces and maximize vegetation on streets. Street designs should use stormwater source controls wherever possible.
    - Utilize resilient materials that can withstand periodic temporary inundation by both fresh and salt water.
    - Reduce streets’ rate of heat absorption by maximizing tree canopy cover.
    - Minimize the overall lifecycle energy use and pollution associated with projects, including the extraction, transportation, construction, maintenance, and
    replacement of materials.
Design for Cost-Effectiveness
The reconstruction of city streets throughout the life of the Shirekeep Reconstruction project required substantial financial resources. Despite the great strides in progress by the Shirekeep Reconstruction Commission, there are still many worthy projects competing for a limited pool of funding. Street designs need to be cost-effective.
  • - Consider not only up-front capital costs, but also full lifecycle costs and benefits; certain options may cost more up front, but may have lower ongoing maintenance and operations costs and/or provide long-term benefits.
    - Design streets to meet Shirekeep’s future needs. Because streets are reconstructed infrequently, consideration of future conditions and needs should be part of the planning process.
    - Maintain a clear and consistent design-review process to streamline project review.
    - Establish well-considered and clearly defined goals early in project development and focus on meeting those goals throughout planning and design.
KAISER HJALMAR REDQUILL
Kaiser of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth

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Kaiser Hjalmar Redquill
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Re: Shirekeep's Roads

Post by Kaiser Hjalmar Redquill »

Shirekeep Road Design Considerations


Street Context
1. History & Character: Details for the specific project area.
2. Land Use: Predominant land uses and densities within the project area (e.g., light residential, dense commercial), any historic districts or special zoning districts, proximity to transit.
3. Network Role: Role of the street in the neighborhood, city, and regional transportation system.
4. Trip Generators: Trip generators within or proximate to the project area, including prominent landmarks, commercial, cultural and civic institutions, public spaces, and facilities serving people with disabilities.
5. Street Width: Available space and how its allocation will be prioritized.

Street Operations
1. Pedestrians: Pedestrian safety, volumes, comfort and convenience of movement, access or mobility needs of people with disabilities, the elderly, and
children, ADA compliance, crash history, important walking connections, and quality of the walking environment.
2. Bicycles: Bicycle safety, volumes, comfort and convenience of movement, existing or proposed bike routes and other important bicycling connections, crash history, and bicycle parking.
3. Motor Vehicles: Motor vehicle safety, volumes, access, crash history, important motor vehicle connections, appropriateness of motor vehicle traffic to street scale (e.g., local vs. through traffic), and ways to reduce the negative impacts of motor vehicle traffic.
4. Transit: Safety, bus routes and operations, subway or other transit station access, and transit usability.
5. Trucks/Freight: Safety, truck routes, volumes, access, mobility, and ways to reduce the negative impacts of truck traffic.
6. Curbside Conditions: Curbside demand and usage patterns within the project area, allocation of space for through movement, meter parking, non-metered parking, loading, deliveries, pedestrian space, and sightlines.
7. Public Space: Opportunities for making streets within the project area better public spaces through such measures as traffic calming, pedestrian seating, appropriate lighting, and art.
8. Street Cuts: Frequency of needed access requiring utility “cuts” into the roadway within the project area, and potential improvement or consolidation of utility infrastructure.

Community Goals
Factors various community stakeholders express as important to their health, quality of life, and community character.

Greening
1. Street Trees: Canopy coverage within the project area.
2. Vegetation: Existing plantings within the project area and opportunity sites for other planted areas.
3. Maintenance Partner(s): Potential and/or committed maintenance partners and level of commitment (e.g., watering, weeding, pruning, litter removal,
replacements)

Resiliency
1. Stormwater Control: Stormwater runoff conditions, permeability of underlying soil, stormwater source controls, and durability of infrastructure in recovering from water exposure.
2. Drainage: Stormwater flow patterns, groundwater infiltration, catch basins, sewer connections, and waterbody impacts.
3. Flooding: Flooding conditions within the project area, storm surge barriers.

Public Art
Opportunities for temporary and permanent art installations.
KAISER HJALMAR REDQUILL
Kaiser of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth

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Kaiser Hjalmar Redquill
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Re: Shirekeep's Roads

Post by Kaiser Hjalmar Redquill »

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PROGRESS REPORT: 6301 ASC


The Shirekeep Reconstruction Commission started 41 ASC years ago. Since then, resources devoted to the complete overhaul of the city's streets have yielded results.

The project had help from engineers and construction firms from every State and Imperial Dominion in Shireroth. Established from the start, reconstruction efforts would use Shirerithian talent only.

Completed Road Reconstruction Projects
The road reconstruction projects began in the quarters surrounding Raynor's Keep.
  • The Treesian Quarter Project
  • The Audente Quarter Project
  • The Boreal Quarter Project
These three projects included clearing out rubble and trash, repairing and beautifying existing public spaces, and the planting more trees and shrubs. Extensive work in modernizing existing utility infrastructure, on top of the installation of new utility infrastructure. Abandoned properties seized were put under City Receivership.

After the completion of the road reconstruction of the Keeps' environs, the next priorities were:
  • The Commercial District Project
  • The Landsraad District Project
The Commercial District Project was part of a greater project aimed at revitalizing the Commercial District of Shirekeep. While road reconstruction was an important component, there was significant work done to expand public space, retail space, improve sustainability of the area. New warehouses and commercial facilities replaced abandoned and decaying structures that had fallen into City Receivership. This also included extensive work in modernizing existing utility infrastructure, on top of the installation of new utility infrastructure.

The Landsraad District Project was also part of a larger, more complex and expensive project to modernize, beautify and clean-up the area. Decaying and unsafe structures had to be torn down, with those empty properties now in City Receivership. This also included extensive work in modernizing existing utility infrastructure, on top of the installation of new utility infrastructure.

Towards the end of the daunting Commercial District Project, the Commission began the following projects:
  • The Metzlershire District Project
  • The Old City District Project
These were by far the largest projects undertaken by the Commission. These projects faced large challenges in particular with the extensive work that was needed to modernizing existing utility infrastructure, on top of installing new utility infrastructure. Large amounts of properties were placed under City Receivership while rubble and unstable structures were cleared out. Over the years, many of these properties under City Receivership were sold to developers. Properties of historical value were also repaired and restored in these areas.

Ongoing Road Reconstruction Projects
  • The Yardistani District Project
  • The Northshire District Project
Future Road Reconstruction Projects
Currently in the planning and local consultation phase:
  • The Rim District Project
  • The Hub District Project
KAISER HJALMAR REDQUILL
Kaiser of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth

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Heath Belledin
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Re: Shirekeep's Roads

Post by Heath Belledin »

I approve of anything involving making Shireroth's roads better. :yay:
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Audun Joel
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Re: Shirekeep's Roads

Post by Audun Joel »

Many thanks, sir! I'm currently working on a similar update on Shirekeep's very own subway system. ;) Stay tuned.
Audun Joel Hallbjörns- og Esthersson
of the Houses of Ayreon-Kalirion and of the Descendants of Freyja

Prince and Llængjarl of Elwynn
Count of Araxion, of Northshire, of Arietta, and of the Lady Esther Isles, Elwynn
Count of Elsyran, Goldshire
Formerly Kaiser Hjalmar Redquill

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Gman Russell
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Re: Shirekeep's Roads

Post by Gman Russell »

Improving roadways? What is this, a normal, functioning government? Bah!
It is from our fruitful hands that we will make this nation perennial with fate.

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Verion
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Re: Shirekeep's Roads

Post by Verion »

Gman Russell wrote:Improving roadways? What is this, a normal, functioning government? Bah!
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1.Titus Morvayne, Prefect of Shirekeep, Count of the Skyla Islands
2.Eki Aholibamah Verion, Queen in the North
3. Ludovic Verion, Lord of Blackstone and Governor-General of the Iron Company
4. Jeremy Harwinsson Archer, super sleuth

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