• In partnership with Swindon Borough Council, Wiltshire Constabulary and the Building Research Establishment;
• A trans-national project partnering La Courneuve [F] and Hilversum [NL];

Hundreds of adults and children taking part in the DIY Streets projects have been marking out their planned road improvements using hay bales and chalk lines.

The series of street trials have also seen fire crews riding their engines through the proposed layouts, which are intended to clamp down on a range of problems from speeding traffic to rat running. It is also hoped other anti-social problems such as littering can be ended by brightening up the streets with extra features including new trees and art work.

Mo McManus, Sustrans' Project Officer for DIY Streets, said: "Residents at all of our pilot schemes have been really keen to get involved and their enthusiasm will help to make the project a great success.

"The street trials are the first chance for people to see their ideas in action and whether it will bring about the improvements they want. They are also a chance for neighbours to get to know each other better and there has been a lively atmosphere at all of these events."


Street trials, which have also included face painting and children's games, have taken place in Islington, Cardiff and Torquay.

Further information

Eleven streets in England and Wales are taking part in the DIY Streets project, which could be rolled out across the UK if successful. You can find out more about all of the selected streets in Current DIY Streets projects.

To contact the team, email liveableneighbourhoods@sustrans.org.uk

Manual for Streets: comments on final draft

Warning on permeability in new-build

As stated below, there is much to praise in Manual for Streets (MfS). However, with regard to transport's impact on health, community and environment it is worth making further comment on where the final publication of MfS now fits.

MfS is designed primarily for new-build, residential development, though it will also be a useful guide in existing streets that are either low-trafficked or of high-level importance (national, regional) as places in their own right.

The extensive variety of streets that it does not cover - what is commonly referred to as the "gap" in guidance between MfS and the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB) - are still very much in need of guidance that combines the experience of the transport sector with all the other sectors in which it operates, but particularly those three mention above: health, community and environment.

MfS incorporates a great deal of contemporary thinking in urban design, which is the main reason for its giant leap forward from Design Bulletin 32, but even though urban design itself aspires to incorporate all the various elements that make up the built environment, it is still only in its infancy if you consider the myriad elements that it aims to cover and is still in need of input from these different sectors.

For example, our experience in transport, health, community and environment would suggest that in a majority of situations full permeability for all modes will result in little reduction in car use. We would advise anyone using MfS to design in reduced permeability for cars, semi to full permeability for public transport (guided bus routes) and full permeability for walking and cycling.

Manual for Streets: summary on original draft

MfS is warmly welcome as a first step in the replacement of DB32 and Places, Streets & Movement. It emphasises strongly the importance of prioritising place over movement and the most sustainable modes over the least, and of full communication and integration between over-lapping interests: three of the most fundamental principles for providing sustainable transport from our own experience.

In terms of detail, there is work needed particularly in chapters 3 ‘Policy, legal, and technical framework', 5 ‘Building communities', 6 ‘Quality places', and 7 ‘Movement'. We provide detailed responses to each point that needs further detailing in these and other areas below.

However, as a replacement for DB32 and Places, Streets & Movement, MfS needs to fill a gap that in its current state it does not. Its key principles, though broad and positive, are not designed to stand up against busier urban routes and, in particular, the fear of the costs of congestion. Crucially, the full communication between stakeholders recommended by MfS includes little if any robust representation from the environment, health, and other social sectors, which is unwise considering transport's impact upon them.

Low-trafficked, residential areas, though numerous and an integral part of our transport system and public realm, bear only a small proportion of the overall transport-related costs to our health sector, environment, and communities. As a replacement of DB32, MfS has the potential to significantly reduce the negative impacts of motorised transport on quality of life, particularly in urban areas.

We hope therefore to see a more comprehensive edition of MfS in the very near future that addresses all areas of urban transport.

As part of the EU-funded VIVALDI project, Sustrans and Bristol City Council worked with the local community to develop a home zone in the Dings. Involving communities in the design process was seen as an essential aspect of creating the home zone. Community ownership of a design results in an improved sense of ownership over the spaces and places concerned.

In order to deliver the whole of the master-layout, the city council successfully bid for additional funding from Bristol's New Deal for Communities programme, Community at Heart. Construction began in September 2004 and was completed in January 2006.

Innovations and highlights of the Dings Home Zone

The project aimed to deliver a combination of innovative elements:

• Positive parking - limiting parking to marked bays only, avoiding the need for yellow lines as part of the new residents parking scheme
• Extensive use of 'design for uncertainty' to slow drivers in shared use areas
• Comprehensive community involvement programme carried out by Sustrans
• Community Arts Programme - employing artists and a writer to develop substantial creative and artistic content with residents to be included into the fabric - in association with the Sustrans Art in the Travelling Landscape programme 
• New cycle / walkway through the site linking to the National Cycle Network and the mainline rail station
• Promotion of non-car travel choices including cycle training
• Inclusion of a Car Club for short term rental as an alternative to car ownership
• Integrating with the home zone in the adjacent new developments
• Provision of safer routes to the adjacent school
• Use of a Sustainable Urban Drainage System to simplify the drainage system on the shared surfaces
• Upgrading utilities for water, telecoms and electricity

The Dings Community Arts Programme

In 2002, residents of the Dings, supported by Sustrans arts and community workers, and encouraged by Community at Heart's Arts co-ordinator, set up the Dings Art Group. Two projects were commissioned by this group:

• New 'gateways' for the 3 entrances to the Dings

Artist Walter Jack has produced three striking artworks that will form the gateway to the Dings home zone. The huge cast iron letters will spell out the word D i n g s and will also act as benches and bollards reducing the need for excess clutter in the street. These will give a strong message that you are entering the Dings home zone, making drivers aware of the need to drive differently and distinctly marking out the Dings identity;

• Words of the 'Story of the Dings' to be built into the fabric such as the surfaces, walls, seats and gateways created by Teucer Wilson.

Local memories and feelings about The Dings have been captured in 11 carved stone and cast iron plaques and medallions which have been installed on walls and paving throughout the home zone. Their individual insights and memories paint a picture which reveals the nature of the Dings and the spirit of its people.

For further information please contact liveableneighbourhoods@sustrans.org.uk

To view the Pocket Guide or information sheets please download using the links below (pdf):

Download the DIY Streets Pocket Guide (pdf).

You can also download a range of design information sheets:

• 1. Life in Front Gardens
• 2. Temporary Art and Children's Games
• 3. Greenery
• 4. Narrowing the road
• 5. Reduce Sightlines
• 6. Chicanes
• 7. Cushions, Humps and Tables
• 8. Gateways
• 9. Street Furniture

Planters used to break up parking and add greenery to the street

Interestingly Sustrans' research found that retailers significantly overestimate how far their customers travel and the importance of the car, while underestimating how many shops each customer visits. 
 
Retailers overestimated the importance of car-borne trade by almost 100%, believing that 41% of their customers arrived by car, whereas only 22% had done – actually over half of shoppers walked. National research on number of trips taken by mode of transport show that 61% of all journeys were made by car and just 1.5% by bike1. However Sustrans' research revealed that in making local shopping trips only 22% were by car and 10% by bike (over six times the national cycling average). 
 
The results show that most customers are local. Retailers estimated that just 12% of customers lived within half a mile, and 40% more than two miles away. In reality, 42% had travelled less than half a mile and 86% had travelled less than two miles. 
 
These very good customers usually don't just visit one shop. Traders believed that as many as one in four shoppers would make just one visit but this figure was actually only 13%. They thought less than one in ten would visit more than three shops, remarkably, almost 30% did so.  
 
Peter Lipman, Sustrans' Director for Liveable Neighbourhoods, said: “These findings have a real significance for business, land use and transport planning. It is traditional for retailers to focus on car access and parking, and to resist measures to promote walking, cycling and public transport use – although pedestrian shopping areas tend to be commercially most successful. Interviews with traders, shoppers and neighbours show that local people would like to see the impact of traffic reduced.
 
“The picture is of local shoppers mainly walking to the shops, and visiting a number of stores. Interestingly, this is also the picture of healthy, physically active lifestyles and streets full of people. This is just the thing urban transport planners, public health specialists and community leaders want to see. Sustrans' view is that we should do all we can to support and grow this active, community based local market.”

Download a pdf version of the report (650 kb)