The streets and roads in a precinct should be planned and designed simultaneously to reflect the network’s desired place outcomes and corridor functions as well as attract the intended users and travel behaviour.

A well-designed street is human-scale and compact in form, so limited road space needs to be allocated to suitable modes to deliver the desired functions for both the corridor and the place. The NSW Movement and Place Framework helps practitioners to balance the demand for limited road space, support successful and vibrant places and encourage travel behaviour that fits the desired street environment.

Based on their movement function and place intensity, under the NSW Movement and Place Framework street environments can be identified as either main roads, main streets, local streets or civic spaces. Some corridors change their function along a route as they encounter different land uses – it is fundamental to identify any changes and reclassify these segments appropriately as needed. Having a complete network with a variety of street environments provide inviting and well-integrated urban environments that enable vibrant public life and a strong economy.

Figure 15 Streets should be designed following the desired street environments and street types from DORAS.

Create a complete network with diverse street environments – and various street types

Depending on a precinct’s size, a complete network should have diverse street environments that are fit for purpose as main streets, local streets or civic spaces – as well as main roads if needed. A complete network should have complementary street environments fulfilling different roles. Each corridor or segment of a corridor should be considered as one desired street environment to avoid forcing a street environment to be everything for everyone.

In addition to the four street environments, the upcoming Design of Roads and Streets Guidelines include a limited palette of street types. Each street environment has many street types that reflect a rich variety of built forms, street characters, topography, place intensity, movement function, lot types and land uses. A diverse street network enables all kinds of activities to occur across different kinds of street environments and street types.

For further information on Movement and Place street environments see the Practitioner’s Guide to Movement and Place, which provides a consistent way to measure existing performance levels against desired outcomes.

Allocate road space based on the identified modal priorities

Although a mode might be prioritised in a corridor, you still need to consider every mode’s road space needs in order, starting with walking (including equitable access for people of all abilities), then cycling (including legal and emerging micro-mobility devices), public transport, freight and deliveries, and point-to-point transport ahead of general traffic and on-street parking. Sufficient space also needs to be provided for tree canopy and street furniture.

For example, even if public transport is prioritised in a corridor, you first need to allocate space for safe walking and cycling access (such as footpaths, cycleways and crossings where needed), before providing for public transport. The remaining space can then be used to prioritise public transport, for example, by providing bus lanes to enable reliable, high-frequency bus services. Finally, you need to consider freight and servicing, point-to-point transport and general traffic. This order of consideration may mean, in some cases, the existing number of travel lanes or free-flowing traffic at peak hours cannot be maintained, and this is an acceptable outcome as the corridor prioritises public transport.

Adopt lower speed limits of 30–40 km/h and design for lower speeds

Following the Safe System approach, vehicle speeds should be lowered to protect the most vulnerable road users: people who are walking. Small reductions in speed can result in large safety gains in various crash configurations. The Centre for Road Safety found that when people are walking, their chance of survival from being hit by a car increases significantly from just 10% at 50km/h to 90% at 30km/h.

Streets should be designed to encourage drivers to slow down. The default speed limit for the whole network in the precinct should be minimised to 30–40km/h where possible, complemented by low-speed zones near schools, hospitals and other sensitive areas. Traffic calming methods, such as pavement types, lane widths, the scale of street furniture (signs and street lighting), canopy coverage and sightlines and on-street parking, should be incorporated into the design of all street environments where appropriate. This exercise needs to be done in conjunction with mode prioritisation (see Principle 2).

Centre for Road Safety’s report found that implementing a 40km/h speed limit in high walking activity areas reduces casualty crashes by half. This applies to road users generally, not just people walking. The evaluation also found a broad consensus that low-speed zones lead to broader benefits in creating an environment that supports place amenities.

Identify and resolve road user conflicts through infrastructure and service design

Large-scale network planning and mapping need to be complemented with designing at a scale where the actual conditions for road users are identified and resolved, at least based on similar-type examples. Balancing the spatial needs of users and resolving any potential conflicts through careful design, particularly at intersections, is evidence a network plan is robust and can deliver the promised benefits in future stages.

If conflict cannot be avoided, follow the same order of modes as outlined in the TfNSW RUSA Policy to resolve the conflict. For example, if both public transport and general traffic are prioritised in a corridor, public transport operations will likely be adversely affected. In this case, public transport should prevail, which may require dedicating space for bus lanes by reducing the number of general traffic lanes and removing space for on-street parking.

If modelling is required, refer to the Transport Model Selection Guidelines to ensure the modelling approach selected is consistent, rigorous and transparent in answering the transport-related questions. Alternatively, temporary low-cost solutions can be used to test permanent changes ahead of or instead of modelling. These solutions can be made permanent or reversed once their effectiveness can be evaluated. DPE’s Streets as Shared Spaces program, for example, allows communities and government to experiment and test changes to streets and places.

• Practitioner’s Guide to Movement and Place (TfNSW and GANSW 2020)
• Safe System Assessment Framework for Movement and Place Practitioners (TfNSW 2021)
• Design of Roads and Streets Guidelines (TfNSW 2022TBC)
• Western Sydney Street Design Guidelines (Western Sydney Planning Partnership 2020)
• Guide to Traffic Management Part 8: Local Street Management (Austroads 2020)
• Beyond the Pavement (TfNSW 2020)
• Walking Space Guide (TfNSW 2020)
• Cycleway Design Toolbox (TfNSW 2020)
• Bus Priority Infrastructure Planning Toolbox (TfNSW 2021)
• City Limits (NACTO 2020)
• Evaluation of permanent 40 km/h speed limits: Summary report (TfNSW 2018)
• Transport Model Selection Guidelines (TfNSW 2021)
• AS 1428.1:2021 Design for Access and Mobility (Australia Standards 2021)