Stroad

While Marohn came up with the neologism partly in a spirit of fun, he considers stroads a deadly serious problem. Not only are they dangerous and aesthetically repugnant, he argues that they are economically destructive as well.

The federal government pitched in $11.5 million for this stroad, so it requires this step before construction begins.

Roads I ride on: […] Very frequently, a four lane suburban stroad with 30,000 to 40,000 cars per day. 12 foot lanes. That's a tough one, because it's sort of sharable with a tiny car (Fiat 500, VW Beetle) if the driver is careful. But anyone else will be passing too close.

A stroad has the driveways, intersections, and crosswalks (sometimes!) of a street, but the higher speed-limit of a road, perhaps 45 mph (70 kph) or more. Oh, and one more thing. The stroad has the multiple lanes of travel one might associate with an avenue (in Manhattan, say) or a limited access highway.

Whether or not it includes light rail, Graham appears to agree with the mayors that Parramatta Road’s future should involve turning it from a “stroad” – a confused mix between road and street design for cars with big shop fronts, common in the US – to a tree-lined boulevard that supports the Sydney growth plan for medium rise housing centred around public transport stations.