Residential way
A very quiet residential street inviting for people to spend time in, often with an informal layout and a sharing of spaces, and a low speed and volume of movement.
Urban residential way
Urban residential ways provide vehicle access to local properties. They are often popular for walking and cycling because they are calmer traffic environments than surrounding streets.
Carriageway widths are approximately 5.5–6m and carrying either one or two-way traffic flow with either unstructured car parking or car parking on one side.
Common issues
- narrow, cluttered footpaths
- heat due to a lack of trees and the presence of utilities
- wide travel lanes that encourage unsafe high-speed driving
- ‘rat-running’ through-traffic
- a lack of safe priority crossings at intersections and mid-block
- more than one traffic lane in one or both directions
- a lack of safe cycling infrastructure if signposted above 30km/h.
Design solutions
[1] Continuous footpath treatment (Continuous Footpath Treatments, TS 02667)
[2] Tree planting within kerb extensions (Austroads Guide to Traffic Management, Part 8)
[3] Lower speed limit (NSW Speed Zoning Standard, TS 03631)
[4] Contra-flow bicycle facility (Signposting for contra-flow bicycle facilities, TS 05437)
Shared zones (NSW Speed Zoning Standard, TS 03631) may also be an appropriate design solution for urban residential ways.
The design solutions library includes a full list of appropriate design solutions for residential ways.
Suburban residential way
In suburban contexts, the typical street reserve of residential ways is 12–13m. They have formal or informal car parking with one travel lane and provide front access to properties.
They are favoured in subdivisions due to their small land take and often function as informal shared zones.
They have a slow speed, shared zone character and can be used as edge streets to open space, with one side having residential development.
Common issues
- roll kerbs or flush environments encouraging parking on the verges
- a lack of entry treatment at intersections to signal slower speeds
- a lack of footpaths or single-side or narrow footpaths
- lack of safe priority crossings at intersections and mid-block
- more than one traffic lane in one or both directions
- wide travel lanes that encourage unsafe high-speed driving
- little or no shade and low canopy coverage
- a lack of safe dedicated cycling infrastructure on streets signposted above 30km/h.
Design solutions
[1] Painted threshold (Austroads Guide to Traffic Management, Part 8)
[2] Trees in the verge (Landscape Design Guideline, TS 01595)
[3] Footpaths (Walking Space Guide, TS 01589)
[4] Lower speed limit (NSW Speed Zoning Standard, TS 03631)
The design solutions library includes a full list of appropriate design solutions for residential ways.