The design parameters described in the manual are intended to bring together features that help to identify a typology and then recommend context appropriate design solutions that support the design of successful roads and streets. It is non-prescriptive guidance to support practitioners in making good and consistent decisions, aligning the road and street function, look and experience. The features identified in the tables are intended to be complementary to existing technical and engineering guidance providing practitioners further contextual guidance when applying the existing documentation.
Design directions for all NSW roads and streets are described in Section 7 of the manual. Design parameters for each street type are described in Section 8 of the manual:
- Section 8.2.9 design parameters for local streets
- Section 8.3.7 design parameters for main streets
- Section 8.4.8 design parameters for main roads
- Section 8.5.6 design parameters for civic spaces
Ranges of parameters are provided within which the designer aligns speed and safety using the appropriate design solutions for a specific problem.
Good road and street design involves judgement as well as calculation. The figure below illustrates that good road and street design is more than applying a set of standards. It is also important to understand the context and to understand the behaviour of all users to achieve a safe outcome for the community.
Austroads guides, the GDCI Global Street Design Guides and council or other local street design parameters including development control plans should be applied in the appropriate context. These should be used by a multi-disciplinary design team for a holistic solution.
“[Austroads] moves away from rigid design limits […] and promotes the concept of ‘context-sensitive design’.
The intention is to allow designers the flexibility to exercise their critical, engineering judgement, for example, by choosing design values outside of normally accepted limits when prevailing constraints require, provided that they recognise their responsibility to be able to produce strong, defensible evidence in support of that judgement” (Austroads Guide to Road Design).
Many Transport for NSW standards and Austroads guides are written for higher speed roads. The manual as part of the extended design domain should be used for lower speed roads and streets to provide fit-for-purpose designs. When referring to Austroads, the manual can also help practitioners check they are using a section of the guidance that is appropriate for a lower speed street environment.
The manual is to be used in accordance with state and local government principles and is not intended to replace local place specific frameworks. Other relevant guidance includes Western Sydney Street Design Guidelines (WSSDGs) and Councils’ street design guidance and Development Control Plans.
View the full Design of Roads and Streets manual
on the Transport Standards Portal.