Streets are the very heart of urban living. They are the ones which provide mobility for men and material. They are also used for water, sewerage, telecom, electricity distribution alike. They also to a large extent determine the character of the city. Well designed and well maintained streets can make all the difference between the perception of a developed country and a developing one.
In this document, we deal with streets in the urban and semi-urban context. Streets and roads are used interchangeably to mean the same thing. When building a road, there are different aspects which come into play. We can classify them as under
· Geometric design
Relating to the road layout, i.e. the plan view and section view from an engineering drawing viewpoint. Thus, the width of pavement(vehicular portion), footpaths, intersection design, position of streetlights, trees & street furniture, height of kerb etc all come under this
· Civil engineering
Relating to the actual materials, quality of construction. Implementation of a given geometric design would mostly fall in this classification.
· Non engineering
These could be the actual tendering process, financials, systems for monitoring and maintenance etc.
Our focus is going to be the geometric design aspect. The geometric design of streets can make a huge difference how efficiently it carries out its functions, and its safety.