Hi,
We are having difficult interpreting the credits related to street frontages and connectivity, as our project is a pedestrian shopping district with non-motorized walking paths between two storey retail buildings.
One would think that the pedestrian paths are paseos, however the definition for paseo under LEED ND is limited to paths that are no more than 12 ft. wide, and our paths are approximately 30 ft. wide.
Would these be considered streets? In that case, do their intersections count towards the connectivity credits? Since they are all non-motorized, are intersections of non-motorized streets with other non-motorized streets acceptable?
Eliot Allen
LEED AP-ND, PrincipalCriterion Planners
LEEDuser Expert
303 thumbs up
January 31, 2013 - 11:29 am
Omer, the walking paths you describe fall under the definition of 'street' if they meet that definition's requirements for deeded perpetual public access, and if so they can count toward intersection density. Also, the NPDp3 20% cap on non-motorized intersections has been removed via the rating system's addenda.
Eliot
Omer Moltay
Co-founderMimta EcoYapi
201 thumbs up
January 31, 2013 - 11:52 am
Thanks Eliot for making me aware of the addenda.
Looking at Figure 9. on p.24 of the reference guide, I think an intersection of an alley with another alley is not eligible (shown as thinner paths). We are wondering whether the intersection of pedestrian streets with other pedestrian streets would also be considered ineligible? (Why are actually alley intersections considered ineligible?)
Thanks again.
Eliot Allen
LEED AP-ND, PrincipalCriterion Planners
LEEDuser Expert
303 thumbs up
January 31, 2013 - 12:35 pm
Omer, you're correct that alley-to-alley intersections are ineligible, but the description of your walking paths as pedestrian-only ROWs means they don't meet the 'alley' definition requirement for motor vehicle movement. The LEED-ND core committee excluded alley-to-alley intersections because alley networks are primarily for limited service functions in contrast to general public circulation that depends on good street connectivity. Your walking paths should be ok as 'streets' with countable intersections, as long as they meet 'street' requirements for deeded perpetual access and mail addressing where applicable.
Eliot
Omer Moltay
Co-founderMimta EcoYapi
201 thumbs up
January 31, 2013 - 12:40 pm
Thanks again. Final question: If pedestrian streets are connected to a plaze in the center of the retail area, are these counted as intersections? As one intersection or as equal to the number of streets that connect?
Omer Moltay
Co-founderMimta EcoYapi
201 thumbs up
January 31, 2013 - 1:16 pm
Another question regarding a pedestrian-only development would be: Regarding connectivity under NPDp3, number of non-motorized connections is limited to 20% of total. A development with only pedestrian streets would not be eligible for the prerequisite since any connection through the project boundary would be non-motorized. Is this correct?
Eliot Allen
LEED AP-ND, PrincipalCriterion Planners
LEEDuser Expert
303 thumbs up
January 31, 2013 - 1:33 pm
Regarding streets that meet at a plaza, the point where an intersection is counted is where ROW centerlines intersect. So if a plaza has an outer circulation ROW, and four streets are entering from different directions, there would be four intersections where the incoming centerlines intersect the plaza's circular centerline. Absent a circular centerline, there would be one intersection where all four centerlines meet in the center of the plaza.
Regarding the NPDp3 Option 2 twenty percent cap on non-motor ROW intersects with the project boundary, that presents a problem for projects with 100% non-motor internal streets and would require USGBC acceptance of a special circumstance or a CIR.
Eliot