Innovative Urban Design
This page introduces some of the innovative features of the home zone construction in the Dings.
Positive Parking
Painted lines and signs that tell drivers where they can't park is the traditional way to regulate parking in the UK. Sustrans worked with Dings residents and Bristol City Council to introduce a residents ‘positive' parking scheme using good urban design to identify parking places without the need for the use of traditional road marking and signage. The positive parking scheme will be supported by a residents parking permit scheme.
Uncertainty by design
Innovative design is being used to create a safe five way junction where motorists are made to feel uncertain about the environment they have entered and so instinctively reduce their speed and make eye contact with other drivers, cyclists and pedestrians in that space. The five-way junction incorporates gateway artwork in the form of large metal letters spelling out Dings. The art is used to substitute for traditional bollards and benches once again reminding drivers this is a different space. The new five-way junction will dissect Oxford Street, which has been used in the past as a rat run by drivers.
SUDS
The remodelling of the Dings streets into a home zone required additional drain inlets. It was realised early in the project that the antiquated drainage system in The Dings was at capacity and could not accommodate any new inlets. To avoid the need for additional drain connections, three streets have been constructed to form one of the largest Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS) interventions in the public highway in England. The SUDS system allows rainwater to soak away into the ground through the paving without the need for it to enter the drain system. By allowing natural soak away SUDS reduces the amount of water that is quickly washed into storm drains during heavy storms that then can lead to increased risk of flooding as rivers fill up quickly.
Green streets
The traditional pavements and road layout of The Dings left no space for street planting. The new home zone street designs have incorporated new street trees and low level planters which bring greenery to the street and encourage wildlife. The amount of space for planting in the street is still limited and so additional planting has been completed in gardens that adjoin the streets. A corner patch of derelict ground within the home zone has also been adopted by residents and turned into a green space cared for by the community.
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