Overview
In many locations, lack of connectivity creates excessively long and indirect trips between neighborhoods and transit stops, schools and shopping areas. Whenever possible, new developments should create streets and greenways that stitch together stand-alone developments or complete segments of larger pedestrian and bike routes. By mapping these potential connections in the comprehensive plan, communities can make these new connections a condition of site plan approval. In some cases, new paths for bicycles and pedestrians enable residents to get to a transit stop, a school or a place to shop.
In many locations, lack of connectivity creates excessively long and indirect trips between neighborhoods and transit stops, schools and shopping areas. Whenever possible, new developments should create streets and greenways that stitch together stand-alone developments or complete segments of larger pedestrian and bike routes. By mapping these potential connections in the comprehensive plan, communities can make these new connections a condition of site plan approval. In some cases, new paths for bicycles and pedestrians enable residents to get to a transit stop, a school or a place to shop.
Tools and Actions
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Municipal Comprehensive Plan
Comprehensive plan can include a section on public infrastructure that includes an official map of full, improved networks including new streets across large parcels. Comprehensive plan can also include access standards.
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Capital Budget
Capital budget can fund new connecting roads.
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Area-Specific Plans
Area-specific plans can map new streets.
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Transportation Plan
Municipality can build strategic linking road segments.
See Plan
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Subdivision Regulations
Subdivision and site plan regulations can include requirements for numbers of points of access and can mandate cross-connections between developments.
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Aesthetic Regulations
Special Zoning Districts can include designs for street and block networks that create connectivity within and between developments and neighborhoods.
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Site Plan Regulations
Subdivision and site plan review can include mandating the alignment and continuation of streets between developments.
See Tool
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SEQRA: Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS)
Through SEQRA (NY State), a Generic Environmental Impact
See Action
statement can facilitate the progressive completion of street networks by establishing, in advance of actual development, the cumulative impacts of multiple developments and the mitigation measures that include new connecting streets. -
Local and County Agreements
Counties can review the impacts of multiple developments on the roadway infrastructure and establish the need for new connections between developments to mitigate those impacts.
See Action