By Haya El Nasser
USA TODAY
Urban villages, quaint and pedestrian-friendly developments embraced by environmentalists, are sparking opposition from fire officials who say the streets are too narrow for their fire engines.
The popularity of such residential complexes sprouting throughout suburbia is forcing a rethinking of street design so the villages can accommodate both emergency responders and a desire for more intimate neighborhoods.
“It’s far different than it was 10 years ago because people have actually started talking,” says Jim Tidwell, a former chief of the Fort Worth Fire Department and a member of the city’s planning commission. “Let’s try to find a solution.”
U.S. guidelines set by the International Code Council call for 20-foot-wide streets, but individual communities can adopt the codes and regulations they want. Some require 24-foot widths.
In sprawling suburbs where fire stations serve a vast area, departments opt for large trucks that can respond to a variety of calls. Because many suburban subdivisions are closed off by cul-de-sacs and have only one way in and out, firetrucks need wide streets to get their apparatus in and out.
Groups such as the Congress for New Urbanism, a non-profit that promotes the health and environmental benefits of walkable neighborhoods, are turning up the pressure to come up with guidelines that can accommodate urban villages without jeopardizing fire safety.
The Environmental Protection Agency, the Congress for New Urbanism and fire marshals across the USA have partnered on an Emergency Response & Street Design Initiative.
“As our streets grew and as our budgets grew, our equipment grew,” says Charles Marohn, a Minnesota engineer and one of the founders of the Strong Towns blog, which comments on the financial implications of development. “As cities are forced to contract, we’re finding we can’t afford the system we’ve created.”
Proponents of narrower streets say they reduce car and pedestrian accidents because traffic slows when streets are not as wide.
Charlotte’s subdivision ordinances for urban street design were rewritten in 2010.
The focus is on designing streets that are connected to give “emergency responders multiple ways to get to an emergency,” says Danny Pleasant, director of Charlotte’s Department of Transportation. “We found that placing fire stations in a well-connected street network is a more cost-effective use of our resources.”
One technique to create narrow, calm roadways and still provide emergency access is to use drivable sidewalks and roll-down curbs, Tidwell says.
“It restricts normal traffic to the width of a lane,” he says, but wider vehicles can straddle sidewalks.
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