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Visualization

What is Daylighting?

Rik

• 7 min read
What is Daylighting?

Daylighting is creating “clear zones” at intersections so that everyone can see each other. Doing this can reduce injuries by up to 30% (Bloomberg, FHWA)

In Provincetown, there are already laws and local regulations in place to support this approach… they’re just not implemented.

Key Daylighting Tactics • Daylighting Best Practices • Problem Locations • Resources

Graphic: Adapted from City of Lancaster, PA

Three Key Daylighting Tactics

1. Remove illegal car parking spaces within 20 ft of an intersection and within 15 ft of a crosswalk.

Under Massachusetts law (700 CMR 9.04), parking within 20 feet of an intersection is a towable offense (parking within an intersection, on a sidewalk, or on a crosswalk are also prohibited).

2. Fill the clear space with something

It’s important to go beyond just painting out a corner or relying on signage. Neither of those actually prevent parking.

The space needs to be filled with planters, bike racks, bollards or other barriers to keep drivers out of the clear space.

This is especially important in Provincetown, since the police do not tow vehicles. There are lots of “tow zone” signs, but the town doesn’t operate a tow lot or own a tow truck. As a result, drivers can park anywhere that there’s open space on the street – and they do.

A car parked in a painted no parking zone on Commercial St in Provincetown. A wider sidewalk or a bike rack would prevent this.
An intersection in NYC with planters, a bike rack, and flex posts to prevent parking in the clear zone.

3. Trim shrubs within 15 ft of an intersection to the town’s 3 ft height maximum.

Provincetown’s General Bylaws address this, but it doesn’t appear to be enforced:

11-6-5. Trees, Hedges & Shrubs Located on Private Property: Height restrictions for traffic safety. In order to preserve and promote the safety of the public, hedge or shrub or other growth located on private property on the corner lot or curb obstructing the view of motorists and situated within 15 feet of a public street, or curb- or side line thereof, shall not be permitted by the owner or occupant of the premises to exceed the height of three feet above road grade; any and all trees within said fifteen-foot area (shade trees are to be subject to the provisions of M.G.L. c. 87, §3) shall have limbs trimmed to the height of six feet above road grade, including that any growth overhanging public walkways shall also be trimmed to the property line at the owner’s expense. The Department of Public Works (DPW), the Fire Chief, or the Chief of Police shall notify the owner of the property of a violation of this chapter by certified mail and may order the tree, hedge, or shrub to be trimmed or removed by the owner of the property. In addition, this section and section 11-6-4 may be enforced through the noncriminal disposition procedures set forth in Chapter 2 of the Town’s bylaws, and may assess a fine of $300 for each violation. Each day that a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
Winthrop St at Bradford St, where you can’t see around the corner and the street sign is barely even visible in the bushes (2024).

Daylighting Best Practices

Daylighting isn’t new, though it has recently gained attention as a low-cost way to improve safety.

NYC DOT social media post showing the installation of a bicycle corral under way as part of its effort to daylight 100 intersections in 2022.

There is lots of design guidance out there to make this kind of effort easy, and lots has been written about how successful this approach can be.

WalkMassachusetts has PDFs you can download that provide all sorts of suggestions (that were written back in 2018, but are still very relevant today):

Orlando, Florida offers a material list for quick-build efforts:

And NACTO goes into detail with lots of reference images and resources:

Problem Locations in Provincetown

Provincetown isn’t a big city, but it has city problems, especially when it comes to managing traffic. Here are some of the more high-profile locations around Provincetown where daylighting is sorely needed.

Standish Street at Commercial Street

This is one of the town’s busiest intersections, and it’s long overdue for some significant improvements.

Here you can see a bike rack and planters placed in a “beach taxi” parking space right at the intersection in front of the Stop sign. This is a classic example of daylighting. When there’s a vehicle parked there, drivers can’t see the Stop sign or the street signs and they certainly can’t see people who are walking or bicycling.

Visualization of Standish St at Commercial St with planters and a bike rack to enforce a clear zone at the intersection.

Commercial Street at Howland Street

We jump to the East End for this intersection right in front of the Schoolhouse Gallery and WOMR Radio. It’s impossible to see around this corner when a car is parked there. (Note the shrubs in the upper right of the photo which also block sight lines and are due for a trim.)

Visualization of Commercial St at Howland St with a bike rack to enforce a clear zone at the intersection.

Winthrop Street at Bradford Street

On the other side of town, these shrubs have been a hazard for years. There’s no way to see around this corner, and the taller shrub peeking our from behind the house extends about a foot into the bike lane on Bradford St.

Visualization of trimming hedges on the corner of Winthrop St and Bradford St create a clear sight line.

Bradford Street at Ryder Street

Back in the center of town behind Town Hall, this corner has had some attempts to create some space in the past. The parking to the right of the photo is all dedicated to Town Hall employees, and the one where the bike rack is sketched in is assigned to the police chief.

There’s some yellow striping to the left and a planter with a shrub that gets moved around from time to time.

There have been a number of engineering sketches over the years on how to improve this intersection, but none of the concepts have made any progress. (The most recent is in the Complete Streets Prioritization Plan from 2023.)

Eversource recently added a substation just out of view to the right and during that project removed a bike rack, so this would also help claw back a few bike spaces that have disappeared.

Visualization of Bradford St at Ryder St with bike racks and planters to create a clear zone at the corner.

Commercial Street at Central Street

Over on Commercial Street at Central Street, this numbered pay parking space is too close to the intersection. There’s also a need for public bike parking in this area in the summer since it’s right near the Boatslip hotel.

Visualization of Commercial St at Central St with bike racks and planters to create a clear zone at the corner.

Commercial Street at Carver Street

In front of Kieh’s and across from Cafe Heaven is this favorite “just a minute” parking space despite the signage and little yellow triangle. When a car is parked here, people on Commercial Street can’t see people coming down the hill along Carver Street or cars stopped waiting to turn.

Visualization of Commercial St at Carver St with bike racks and planters to create a clear zone at the corner.

More Locations to Evaluate for Daylighting

There are a lot more intersections that the town could evaluate for daylighting. This map shows the most obvious ones where there is need to clear some space, trim some shrubs, and add some bike racks, planters, or even benches.

Map of Provincetown with locations marked that would benefit from daylighting.

Resources