Community planning must achieve compatible land-use patterns. The highway planner must be involved in the total community planning process in order that highways serve the community and improve and enhance the human environment. Planning of the highway network in the area of binghamton, new york, a metropolitan area is described. As a capital extension of the adjcent physical environment, the highway and the roadside enter into many facets of urban planning and design. Open space planning and regulation are discussed. Open space requirements for front, side and rear yards are discussed. In the binghamton metropolitan area, the highway network and the roadside were woven into an urban design fabric to achieve the following benefits and objectives: buffer between disparate land uses, land-use transition, neighborhood delineation, miniparks and play areas, automobile parking sites, open-space enhancement, daylight and sunlight zoning, marginal greenbelt, governmental complex, site planning, cultural center, multiple land use, pedestrian safety, highway interchange aesthetics, roadside landscape, marginal and environmental controls, wetlands preservation, embankment noise buffer, community services accessibility, and general community revitalization. These urban design elements are illustrated and described.
Abstract