Sneckdown

An example of sneckdowns and plowzas on a snow day in New York City.

A sneckdown^[1] or snowy neckdown^[2] is effectively a curb extension caused by snowfall. A natural form of traffic calming, sneckdowns show where a street can potentially be narrowed to slow motor vehicle speeds and shorten pedestrian crossing distances. Coined by Streetsblog Founder Aaron Naparstek,^[3] popularized by Streetfilms Director Clarence Eckerson, Jr. and spread widely via social media,^[4] the term first appeared on Twitter on January 2, 2014 at 11:19pm EST.^[5] Other Twitter hashtags that have been used to describe snow-based traffic-calming measures include #plowza #slushdown #snovered and #snowspace.

Benefits

• Shortens pedestrian crossing time
• Highlights unused road space
• Calms vehicle traffic
• Allows planners and road engineers to clearly see possible modifications to road structures
• Encourages slower vehicle speeds, increasing safety for all road users including pedestrians

Examples

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Baltimore and 48th Street, 2011: A sneckdown inspired permanent upgrades to the pedestrian environment at this intersection.^[6]

In the 1980s, some planners in Australia distributed cake flour in intersections to observe patterns of vehicle movement hours later.^[7]

References

1. "Streetfilms - Street Lessons from a Blizzard (with sneckdown!)".
2. "Streetfilms - Snowy Neckdowns Redux: Winter Traffic Calming (Now: #sneckdown)".
3. "Natural traffic control". The Economist. 13 February 2014.
4. "Streetfilms - The Complete Origin of the #Sneckdown".
5. "Aaron Naparstek". Twitter.
6. "Can Snow Inspire Better Streets? It Already Has. - Streetsblog USA".
7. "Facebook".

External links

• Undriven Snow The Economist
• Sneckdown: Using Snow to Design Safer Streets BBC
• What the Heck is a Sneckdown? Treehugger
• 2014's Endless Snow Has at Least Been Good for Transportation Nerds Atlantic Cities
• "Sneckdowns" Reveal the Street Space Cars Don't Use Greater Greater Washington
• Sneckdowns: How snowstorms can teach us to build smarter roads The Week
• The 'sneckdown': Nature's pedestrian island WPIX11 News NYC