No Royal Roads: Diffusing the Constraints of Smoothness on Local City Streets

Like aqueducts, roads and streets are some of the earliest, most effective technological utilities related to sustained urban settlements. The smooth asphalt surface of a modern- day collector street connecting from arterial transportation networks to local city streets is one example. Like many fast-paced technological applications developed to outpace physiological adaptation, their benefit is counteracted with adverse impacts on various social-ecological systems. Smoothness, a preferred street surface condition, is a technical overcorrection. Accelerated stormwater discharge can overwhelm drainage systems and cause chronic flooding. Therefore, the application of smoothness across multiple street typologies requires reexamination. A textured, permeable surface can effectively mitigate this condition by diffusing water movement and storing it momentarily where it falls. Combined with other ecological systems, the surface geometry of the street and section can filter pollutants, increase mobility, and improve the spatial qualities of local streetscapes.

https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.110.90

Volume Editors
Robert Gonzalez, Milton Curry & Monica Ponce de Leon

ISBN
978-1-944214-40-1