Aurora Urban Street Standards
In
Transit Oriented Developments and Urban Centers
Aurora Municipal CodeSection 126-36.5Adopted by City Council Ordinance No: 2007-23On May 14, 2007Effective Date: June 23, 2007
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Aurora Urban Street Standards
For Transit Oriented Developments and Urban Centers
I. Purpose
These standards will be applied to create a safe, comfortable, pleasantand pedestrian-friendly multi-modal travel environment that helps thecreation of vibrant civic places and economic vitality in transit orienteddevelopments (TODs) and urban centers. The Aurora ComprehensivePlan identifies various TOD sites and urban centers throughout the City.Further, the Comprehensive Plan includes a recommendation to “developurban street standards for use in emerging areas of the city such as urbancenters and transit oriented development sites (Aurora ComprehensivePlan 2003, Chapter IV. H - Transportation).”
II. Intent and Applicability
These standards supplement the street standards set forth in Section 126-36. They apply to any public and private streets in TODs and urbancenters (see the attached Aurora TOD and urban centers map).
III. Administration and Interpretation
The directors of Planning and Public Works will jointly perform or assignthe following responsibilities and authorities:A. Administer the urban street standards;B. Interpret the provisions of the urban street standards;C. Modify the street standards where special conditions indicate that suchmodification will best meet the purpose of the street standards andprovide an adequate and safe street for all users, or provide transitionto streets outside TODs and urban centers.
IV. Implementation and Management
It is desirable to achieve the highest levels of safety, security and comfortwithin the TODs and urban centers. Street maintenance involves streetcleaning, snow removal, pavement replacement (overlays), decorativepavement replacement, pedestrian street lighting, sidewalk sweeping andtrash pickup. Parking management and security are also vital to thesuccess of these centers. A comprehensive street maintenance andparking plan should be developed for each TOD and urban center duringthe master planning or site planning processes. In light of this, all streetswithin the new TODs and urban centers shall be analyzed by the city on aproject-by-project basis to determine how best to assign the ownershipand maintenance responsibilities. Options to be considered include:
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A. Privately owned and maintained streets;B. The use of metropolitan districts or business districts to providemaintenance, parking and security.
V. StandardsA. Context Zones
Each TOD or urban center should be divided into the following threezones to reflect the different level of pedestrian activities:1. Core Zone (TOD District Urban CoreZone) – within approximately 1/8 mile of transit stations for TODs and the centralplaza or main-street areas for urbancenters;2. Transition Zone (TOD District UrbanCenter Zone) – between approximately1/8 mile and 1/4 mile of transit stations for TODs and the central plaza or main-streetareas for urban centers;3. Edge Zone (TOD District General UrbanZone) - between approximately 1/4 mileand 1/2 mile of transit stations for TODsand the central plaza or main-street areasfor urban centers.Appropriate street design parameters, such as cross-sections,pedestrian amenities, levels of access control and design speedshould be selected for each zone accordingly. Design speed is theselected speed to be used in determining the various geometric designfeatures of a street, such as curvature, sight distance, grades and lanewidth. Access control is a way of regulating street access rights to andfrom properties abutting a street. The highest design speeds and levelsof access control should occur in the edge zone and the lowest designspeeds and level of access control should occur in the core zone.Similarly, the highest level of pedestrian amenities, such as wider sidewalks, shorter block length and shorter crossing distances, shouldoccur in the core zone with reduced pedestrian amenities in the edgezone.
B. Street Network
Street network characteristics impact developments. To encouragecompact and mixed-use developments and provide more route choicesand direct access for pedestrians and bicyclists, an inter-connected
Fig. 1 Context Zones
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Environmental Protection Agency: 030275
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| Upload Date: | 01/25/2008 |
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