Pedestrian Lansdale Avenue Receives Dutch-Inspired Improvements

Just 14 months after the first of two MCBC-sponsored public forums focused on making Lansdale Avenue  a safer place for all roadway users, the street received a Dutch-inspired facelift.

As a key connection along the East-West Greenway between Fairfax and San Anselmo, Lansdale’s transformation into a woonerf – Dutch for “living street” – indicates to users that it is shared by people in cars, on bikes, and on foot. Treatments include textured intersections, which are meant to alert people biking and driving to the presence of side streets, as well as signage that conveys the shared nature of the street.

Together with neighborhood residents, MCBC helped start a dialogue last year aimed at developing solutions related to the street’s safety and functionality. Primary concerns focused on poor sight lines and the need to calm bicycle and vehicle traffic in order to make the street’s limited space more inviting and comfortable.

The textured intersections and signage represent an initial, low-cost attempt at mitigating some of those concerns. Pending studies of the street’s safety before and after implementation, additional improvements may be considered in the future. Ideas floated through last year’s forums included raised intersections and improved off-street parking.