Do Highway Bypasses Bring Benefits?
Posted on | January 16, 2012 | 3 Comments
My community has gone through several agonizing months of presentations, consultations and the like in order to determine the best possible scenario for a proposed major highway realignment. I won’t lie, it’s been heated at times, with residents arguing for - and against – the proposals.
But do highway bypasses really create unimaginable damage to communities? Or are there there hidden benefits to such schemes?
From listening to many transportation, engineering, and land-use planning experts recently – as well as doing some investigating of my own – the answers are as diverse as people’s opinions on the topic; effects can be both positive and negative as well as short-term or long-term.
As I’ve noted before, the more dependent a community is on drive-through traffic, the more likely it is to feel negative impacts from a highway bypass.
The concerns of local businesses, especially those that rely on drive-through traffic, are most likely to be voiced. However, studies have shown that if the community is viewed as a trading centre for the region (which my town has grown to become), consumer impacts are lessened as there is a typically a wider range of businesses from which to draw customers.
Even more interesting … downtown business districts - take note! Those of you with well-developed downtown cores are even less affected as you have already built up a local client base that isn’t dependent on traffic patterns. Some studies also note that the presence of a local economic development agency has been beneficial for businesses forced to adjust to such a transition … different communities experience different adjustment processes.
Overall, much research – including that which focused on smaller, agricultural-based communities – indicates modest negative effects on most communities.
A situation like this reminds me of a popular saying … never waste a good crisis. It’s precisely in such times that quality leadership is valued as folks rally to come up with a solution for their specific situation.
Do you agree?
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Tags: community > construction > development > downtown > Economy > highway > Leadership > planning > rural > rurban > traffic
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3 Responses to “Do Highway Bypasses Bring Benefits?”
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January 20th, 2012 @ 8:11 am
Although in every case the impacts are felt differently, in my career as an architect, it is predictable that where a major highway is built, in town, outside of town, rural or urban, development will occur. Tract, suburban housing will sprout like seeds in april. When a city or community is trying to hold and maintain a counrtyside line, the building of a bypass highway on the edge is detrimental to their goal because by nature the road is appealing to residents for quick access. And soon enough you need to move the bypass further out and rural countryside continues to get eaten up. I caution planners to be careful where they place their bypass highways.
January 20th, 2012 @ 11:12 am
@ Krista – Thanks for your insight … I agree. It’s a delicate balance to try to integrate major roadways/development/rural conservation … and participating in the hearing process is vital for local residents.
January 27th, 2012 @ 11:48 pm
A new bypass does indeed draw a new line in the sand, defining a new edge of the city.