It is encouraging to see Durham exploring design alternatives for new streetscaping at five key neighborhood locations. Illustrations in last month's Durham News reflected design proposals after four of five meetings soliciting citizen input. Fortunately, the effort is housed in exactly the right department: the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, because the public rights-of-way of our streets and thoroughfares encompass one of every municipality's biggest assets, often its biggest ownership of land -- an asset that should be leveraged for the highest quality of life for its citizens.

Our city needs leadership championing our streets as places where citizens come first, rather than the myopic purviews of specialists. Unfortunately, this latest streetscaping proposal tends to the latter. For all the changes illustrated, the curbs remain in exactly the same location, meaning the transportation engineers have prevailed, ensuring that nothing impedes the "free" movement of cars. Yet speed does not correlate with capacity, as in an interconnected network it is the intersections that restrict capacity, not travel speeds.

At vehicular speeds over 30 mph, nearby pedestrians are uncomfortable. Speed is the most important factor in establishing a comfortable pedestrian realm. Why must pedestrians be comfortable? People will not inhabit spaces in which they are not comfortable, meaning no sidewalk cafes, no active storefronts, no leisurely strolls. Instead, retail struggles and people stay away.

The only pedestrians will be those who have no choice, those dependent on public transportation or friends and family to drive them for their daily needs. This stands in stark contrast to the most desirable neighborhoods and streets, where the public realm is so comfortable, so enticing that people young and old choose to walk, adding to the vitality of the neighborhood.

To create a great neighborhood center, someone has to champion the public realm. In his article "Making Better Places: Ten Resolutions for Mayors," Jeff Speck, who formerly oversaw the Mayors Institute of City Design, outlines 10 rules that he says are violated by both large and small decisions every day. (Mayor Bill Bell participated in an MICD workshop in 2004.)

Speck's first resolution: design streets for people.

His second resolution: overrule the specialists.

While each of his other rules is critically important, these first two speak directly to the streetscaping proposals in Durham, with neither rule being followed.

Simply, the proposal shows no changes curb-to-curb, except for some pavement changes at the intersection. The streets remain excessively wide, especially without on-street parking, which isn't shown. The feeble attempt at separating pedestrians from the travelway results in a narrow brick strip, insufficient for either lighting or tree planting.

Any urban arborist will quickly note the insufficient planting area, meaning street shrubs such as crepe myrtles or even smaller species are the only ones that might survive. Such species fail to provide a critical shade canopy, and fail to provide sufficient separation for the pedestrian. Furthermore, the sidewalk narrows to pass both the light pole and the tree planter, meaning two adults cannot walk comfortably side by side, a basic rule of thumb for successful sidewalks.

In short, despite all the "changes" illustrated, these proposals still result in an unquestioned priority for vehicles, without any friction to slow traffic, while pedestrians remain relegated as second-class users of the public right-of-way.

Great things may be happening in Durham, but not in our streets. Asheville, Charleston, Savannah, and even cities like Greensboro and Charlotte have seen successes in making great streets. Durham, however, if the latest proposals are any indication, continues to be hoodwinked by specialists -- willing to spend money for solutions doomed for only minor, happenstance successes, if any at all. A leadership opportunity beckons to any potential champion willing to learn from others' successes.

(Tony Sease, principal of Civitech Inc., is an architect and civil engineer who lives in Trinity Park.)