GLOSSARY

Stroad

A stroad is a corridor that tries to be both a street and a road and does neither job well. The word, a blend of “street” and “road,” was coined in 2011 by civil engineer and planner Charles Marohn, founder of Strong Towns.

THREE WAYS TO BUILD A CORRIDOR (PLAN VIEW, NOT TO SCALE)ROADMoves trafficbetween places.55+ mph design,few access pointsNO DRIVEWAYS, NO PARKINGSTREETBuilds valuein a place.20 to 25 mph,shops at the walkON-STREET PARKING, PEOPLE ON THE SIDEWALKSTROADTries to do both,does neither.35 to 50 mph, adriveway every lotRED RINGS = TURNING CONFLICTS AT DRIVEWAYS
A road moves traffic between places; a street builds value within one. A stroad combines high-speed lanes with a driveway into every parking lot, so it moves traffic slowly and builds little value. Illustrative, after Charles Marohn of Strong Towns.

The distinction is about purpose. A road moves people between places quickly, with few access points. A street is a place in its own right, where people live, shop and gather, so traffic must move slowly. A stroad combines wide, straight lanes designed for highway speeds with the driveways, turn lanes, signals and parking lots of a commercial street. Marohn compares it to a futon: an uncomfortable couch and a bad bed.

How to recognize a stroad

  • Four or more through lanes, often with a continuous center turn lane.
  • A posted limit of 30 to 45 mph on a roadway designed for faster driving, so many drivers go faster.
  • A driveway into nearly every business, and a parking lot in front of nearly every building.
  • Long distances between crosswalks, and sidewalks that are narrow, interrupted or missing.
  • Signals at frequent intersections that stop the through traffic the lanes were widened to carry.

Why stroads fail

  • Safety. Every driveway and turn is a conflict point, and conflicts at speed are deadly. A Governors Highway Safety Association analysis of 2020 data found that roughly 60% of U.S. pedestrian deaths occurred on non-freeway arterials, the road type where most stroads sit.
  • Mobility. Cars entering and leaving parking lots slow the through traffic, so stroads congest despite their width, and widening them tends to invite more traffic rather than relieve it.
  • Value. Strong Towns argues that low-density strip development along stroads produces little tax value per acre compared with the cost of the infrastructure it requires.

Fixing a stroad

  • Make it a road. Consolidate and close driveways, move access to side streets or rear lanes, limit intersections, and keep people walking out of the traffic stream.
  • Make it a street. Narrow the lanes, add medians, crosswalks and on-street parking, lower the design speed, and let buildings come back to the sidewalk. See traffic calming.
  • Split the jobs. Carry through traffic on a road and build a parallel street for the places along it.

Where parking fits

Stroads are as much a parking pattern as a roadway design. Parking minimums require each business to supply its own lot, setbacks put that lot in front of the building, and every lot gets its own driveway. The result is the stroad’s defining feature: a curb cut every few hundred feet. Converting a stroad usually means rethinking that pattern, with shared parking behind buildings reached by consolidated access, on-street parking that slows traffic and buffers the sidewalk, and lower or removed minimums so new buildings can meet the street. See curb management.

The Parkonomics view

The stroad is what parking minimums look like from a car window. Every store gets its own lot, every lot gets its own driveway, and a road built for speed ends up stopping for all of them. Fix the parking pattern and the street can follow.

Related terms: Parking Minimums, Traffic Calming, Conflict Point Map, Shared Parking, On-Street Parking, Curb Management, New Urbanism, Land Use Planning

Further reading: The Lane Always Fills; Santa Monica’s Height Fight Is a Parking Fight