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client: Municipality of Predazzo typology: sustainable mobility, urban design, landscape design location: Predazzo, Italy design: Martina Troilo, Marcelo Rivera Leyton year, competition: 2014, 1st prize The plan for Predazzos pedestrian and cycle network is intended not only as an effective instrument to improve sustainable mobility but also as a great chance to regenerate the city, enhance the quality of life, connect the public spaces and introduce a new use of the roads as shared space. The network is interpreted as a weaving of paths composed by the citizens and any other users passing through it. The “urban weavers”, walking or cycling along its threads, knit not only paths but also connections and social relations. “Let´s weave cycling!”, name given to the project, is an invitation for all the potential users to move into the city in a collective and dynamic way, making an alternative mobility system possible. The street becomes the strategic public space for mobility and social life. In order to make the weave effective: its lines form a network, at the urban and extra-urban scale; the network is dense: the bicycle and pedestrian mobility is ensured not only along the main ways but also spread in the city. With this aim the project introduces a secondary net without bikes-dedicated-lanes, but with a car speed limit of 20-30 Km/h, specific signage and a two-way circulation for cyclists. A weaving process occurs: the net is not imposed and is adjustable with the time. The citizens suggest “desirable lines,” actively taking part in the process as “weavers” of the net. The threads of the urban weaving are not just thin lanes for the slow mobility. They are intended as “ribbons” that include the whole street and have a variable width: they occasionally expand to include public spaces, special programs (such as the “riverside sculpture park”, the “walking terrace”) or “micro spaces” (such as bicycle parking or information points). Each ribbon has its specific character and street-section, according to the context (urban/rural) and the functions served. The street is understood as a shared space, equally divided between all kinds of users: pedestrians, motorized and non-motorized vehicles, public and private means of transport. The shared space is made possible through traffic calming measures, special shared lanes for bikes and buses, protected zones in front of the schools. Moreover, the intersections are redesigned and made safe through the introduction of “refuge islands” and “setback crossings” that reduce the distance to cross and provide space and good visibility for everyone. Further means to improve the circulation are: the “contra flow lanes” for bikes in the one-way streets and the two-ways for buses and bikes along the main roads. Along the residential streets the various textures of the pavement material and the rainwater management system serve as a way to moderate the speed of vehicles and create a peaceful coexistence of all the users. |
