Bicycle Safety Guide and Countermeasure Selection System
Charlotte, NC. http://www.pedbikeimages.org/ - Dan Burden
The careful use of landscaping along a street can provide traffic calming benefits by reducing the visual width of the roadway. This can include a variety of trees, bushes, and/or flowerpots, which can be planted in the buffer areas between the sidewalk and the street. Landscaping may also provide a buffer between motor vehicle traffic and bicyclists who are using a separated bicycle facility, such as a cycle track or a sidepath.
Well-designed bicycle facilities can be an important attraction, especially for recreational bicyclists or for attracting new riders. Whereas bicycle commuters will typically choose routes based upon their directness and safety, new riders are more likely to be drawn to routes that are aesthetically pleasing and where they feel comfortable riding.
Well-designed and landscaped facilities also lead to fewer safety and security problems and are more likely to be supported by the neighborhoods and businesses that are accessible to bicyclists using the facility.
Landscaping can be used to calm traffic by creating a visual narrowing of the roadway. More broadly, aesthetically pleasing bicycle facilities can create an attractive environment, not only for bicyclists, but for everyone. By building such environments, one hopes to encourage more people to bike.
Opportunities for funding landscaping tend to be more flexible than for major street changes. For example, the cost of the actual landscaping may be paid for by the corresponding neighborhood or business groups. Often, municipalities will pay for the initial installation and homeowners associations, neighborhood residents, or businesses agree to maintain anything more elaborate than basic tree landscaping.