Description

The City of San Mateo’s Sustainable Streets Plan and Guidelines combines policies and guidance on both complete streets and green streets into an integrated program, laying out a path to a sustainable, safe, healthy, and community-oriented transportation system and lifestyle. The plan promotes the integration of green infrastructure and other landscape and hardscape elements that can capture, slow, and treat stormwater runoff into the street design process. Additionally, this approach works to help create a sense of place, enhance the pedestrian experience, improve economic and community vitality, and convey environmental benefits.

CD+A’s work focused on identifying a range of green streets elements appropriate for the street right-of-way and with complete streets elements, allowing the street designer to select individual or combinations of general landscape and green infrastructure functions and benefits most appropriate for local conditions. These include stormwater management needs, soil and hydrological conditions, urban design context, and multimodal transportation needs. CD+A also participated in a series of community events to collect stakeholder input and educate about green streets and their relationship to land use and transportation planning.