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Serpentine
Designs | Woonerf
Whole
Street Designs
Woonerf
Woonerf (“Street for living”) is a Dutch term for common space created
to be shared by pedestrians, bicyclists, and low speed motor vehicles.
They are typically streets without curbs and sidewalks, and vehicles
are slowed by placing trees, planters, parking areas, and other obstacles
in the street. Motorists become the intruders and must travel at very
low speeds below 10 mph. This makes a street available for public
use that is essentially only intended for local residents. A woonerf
identification sign is placed at each street entrance.
Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians share
the space on this woonerf or “living street” in Asheville, North
Carolina.
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The material provided on this page is from the FHWA publication
"Pedestrian Facilities User Guide." This guide is currently under review
by practicioners and others in the field. Subsequently, the material
provided on this page is subject to change in the future.
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Purpose:
• Designed for residential streets that are very low volume,
limited use, and primarily local access streets.
• Streets where there is a neighborhood desire to create a public
space for social activities and play by local residents.
Considerations:
• A woonerf is generally not appropriate where there is a need
to provide for nonresident motorists to access services or through
streets.
• The design needs to keep vehicle speeds very low in order to
make the streets safe for children.
Estimated Cost:
The cost to retrofit a woonerf may be quite high, but there would
no extra cost if designed into original construction.
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