Problem
It is not possible to avoid the need for high-speed roads in modern society; but it is essential to place them and build them in such a way that they do not destroy communities or countryside.
Solution
Place high-speed roads (freeways and other major arteries) so that:
- At least one high-speed road lies tangent to each local transport area.
- Each local transport area has a least one side not bounded by a high-speed road, but directly open to the countryside.
- The road is always sunken, or shielded along its length by berms, or earth, or industrial buildings, to protect the nearby neighborhoods from noise.
Related Patterns
… the ring roads which this pattern specifies, help to define and generate the Local Transport Areas (11); if they are placed to make connections between Interchange (34); they also help to form the Web of Public Transport (16).
Always place the high speed roads on boundaries between subcultures — Subculture Boundary (13) and never along the waterfronts — Access to Water (25). Place industry and big parking garages next to the roads, and use them, whenever possible, as extra noise shields — Industrial Ribbon (42), Shielded Parking (97) …
Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 96