Gateway

Usage: Limited

A combination of traffic calming and visual measures used at the entrance to a low-speed street to slow entering vehicles and discourage through traffic. Useful at all roadway transitions to slower-speed environments, gateways are especially suited to entrances to residential side streets and Shared Streets. The design elements of a gateway can include Curb Extensions, a Raised Crosswalk or driveway treatment, a Raised Median, landscaping or trees, and community facilities such as seating and public art.

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Prospect Place and Kingston Avenue, Brooklyn

Benefits

  • Decreases vehicular speeds and discourages through traffic without blocking or prohibiting vehicular access
  • Demarcates transitions to low-speed, Shared Street, or pedestrian-oriented areas
  • Provides pedestrians with priority movement across the treated leg of the intersection

Considerations

  • May impact street drainage or require catch basin relocation
  • May impact underground utilities
  • May require loss of curbside parking in some cases
  • Planted materials typically require a maintenance partner, and may require a permit or revocable consent
  • May impact ability to install future curbside bike or bus facility
  • If gateway includes a Raised Crosswalk, snow plows must be given advance warning

Application

  • Entrances to Shared Streets
  • Consider at entrances to streets with low vehicle volumes or speeds from streets with high vehicle volumes or speeds

Design

  • Include at a minimum Curb Extensions to narrow the roadway; preferably, vertical deflection should also be created using a Raised Crosswalk or ramped driveway treatment; if the street is two-way, a Raised Median or Pedestrian Safety Island can be included, space permitting
  • Other design elements can “narrow” a street visually, including plantings, public art, bike parking, and community facilities such as seating
  • If work includes tree planting, consider the location of utility infrastructure, including DEP sewers and water mains
  • Where feasible and if there is a maintenance partner, design planted areas within gateway so as to capture stormwater according to current standards. See Stormwater Management Practices in the Landscape chapter
  • If gateway includes planted curb extensions, see Curb Extension in the Landscape chapter for design guidance
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