Prinsestraat & Noordeinde
Team: Katie B, Annie, Caroline
Prinsestraat is a very narrow street in the Het Nooreinde commercial area of the Hague. This is the neighborhood of the Hague with the most exclusive boutiques and small restaraunts, very near the Nooreinde Palace. While this street is mainly used by pedestrians and bicyclists browsing the shops, cars are allowed freely into most of this neighborhood. While hydraulic bollards protect much of this commercial area from through car traffic, those without them (such as Prinsestraat) currently have narrow sidewalks as well as a travel lane and parking lane. Consumers and producers could potentially benefit from the reclamation of these streets as pedestrian- and bicyclist-oriented, as shopping could become a more pleasant experience. However, these stores need to remain accessible by car mainly for the purpose of delivering and picking up goods.
Existing Conditions
Figure 1. Existing retractable bollards along a section of Noordeine.
Figure 2. The intersection of Prinsestraat and Korte Molenstraat, where bicycle parking replaces the parking lane.
The two figures above show the existing conditions of the narrow streets in the area that we are focusing on. Despite the narrowness of the travel lane, cars are still permitted to use this street as a through street. Other streets have limited car traffic due to hydraulic bollards that make it so that cars must have special permission to be on the street. Below is a typical cross-section of these shopping streets.
Figure 3. Typical cross-section of Prinsestraat.
We observed that car traffic is relatively low through this section of Het Noordeinde because of bollards blocking through traffic on Molenstraat. However, there is very little greenery or flowers on Prinsestraat. Furthermore, there was limited bike parking. People were parking their bikes anywhere they could find space on the sidewalk. In fact, the sidewalk at the intersection of Molenstraat and Prinsestraat was blocked because there were too many bikes on the sidewalk.
Proposed changes
In order to eliminate the majority of car traffic along these streets, new retractable bollards will be added at Pieterstraat. These bollards will allow delivery trucks through at certain times of the day for business deliveries. These can also be used for large purchases such as furniture, giving people the option to bring the car around for loading purposes, but eliminating the need to park on the street. The traffic that would normally travel down Prinsesstraat will be rerouted to Torenstraat, a larger street with a parking garage.
Figure 4. Redirection of traffic and location of new bollards.
Both sections of road are approximately 1000′ long. Assuming a single parallel parking spot requires 25′, we will be removing 40 spots per street, or 80 total spots. However, there are a multitude of parking garages in the area as well as 5 public transit stops in walking distance that would allow people to travel by other modes. The park and ride at the edge of the city is an attractive alternative, and incentives to park in garages can be implemented, such as validated parking from stores along the streets. Some of the parking garages could be expanded to increase the available parking for cars, as well as adding additional bike parking.
Figure 5. Locations of nearby parking garages and public transportation connections.
By eliminating car parking along the streets, we can extend the sidewalk on the north side of Prinsestraat by moving the curb to the edge of the parking lane. We will keep the travel lane the same width so that delivery vehicles and emergency vehicles can still access the street when necessary.
Figure 6. Modifications of Prinsestraat.
Existing bike parking would be moved to the proposed sidewalk extension. New bike racks would be added as well to discourage cyclists from leaving their bikes against the building or blocking the pedestrians.
Planters would be placed on the sidewalk expansion to increase the greenspace along the street. Additionally, the existing metal bollards on the edge of the sidewalk will be replaced with flowerboxes. The flowerboxes will still discourage bikes and other vehicles from driving on the sidewalk but will be much more visually appealing.
Figure 7. New cross-section of Prinsestraat. Bike parking will be alternating with planters.