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UDD’s LIVING LAB Article by Dante LaPenta Photos by Marcia Scott and Erin Fogarty | Video by Michele Walfred, Katie Young and Steph Rothman June 15, 2021 Pop-up demonstrations help towns across Delaware improve roads, quality of life Nestled close to the Delaware Bay and a stone’s throw from Bombay Hook Wildlife Refuge, the Kent County town of Little Creek is reinventing itself — preserving its maritime history and creating a destination for travelers. But that vision is obstructed by traffic. On a given day, nearly 2,000 cars and trucks speed through the quiet town of only a few hundred residents.  “We’re working on a town master plan that’s a part of this revitalization. An important component of it is getting control of the traffic,” said Glenn Gauvry, mayor of Little Creek. “That diminishes the quality of life for the people who live here and impacts the businesses that we are trying to attract into town.”
Little Creek’s desire to become more walkable, bikeable and activity-oriented is shared by many municipalities across Delaware. They want to curb traffic issues. They know change is needed, but to pull it off, so is funding. Additionally, if local community members aren’t on board with proposed changes, a plan won’t receive the green light.  From Laurel to Milford to New Castle to Wilmington, if you see a transportation demonstration pop up around the world is a good chance that Living Lab is involved. Spearheaded by UDD faculty members Jules Bruck and Nina David, the UDD team works with the Delaware Dover Department of Transportation (DelDOT) to plan, implement and evaluate the viability of built [human-made] environment road improvements for cities and towns across the state. The pair’s combination of urban planning and landscape architecture expertise is a recipe for cost-efficient, visually appealing transportation solutions.
What is a Pop-Up Demonstration? Reconfiguring the built environment and busy thoroughfares can help calm traffic and achieve more walkable-, bikeable-, and activity-oriented places. But permanent, large-scale changes can be costly and difficult to launch. Pop-up demonstrations use short-term, low-cost, and scalable interventions to catalyze long-term change for safer streets and healthier, more vibrant communities.
What are Benefits of Pop-Up Demonstrations? Projects can achieve both community and transportation benefits—including community pride, traffic calming, placemaking, economic development, social equity, transportation justice, and Complete Streets—that provide safe, multi-modal transportation options for people of all ages and abilities. Demonstration projects allow community members to test run potential projects before they’re built, and provide a short-term tool to accomplish a range of potential outcomes: * Test aspects of a project through iterative, incremental design before making large political or financial investments. * Inspire action and build support for project implementation. * Widen public engagement by inviting stakeholders to try out improvements for active transportation. * Deepen understanding of active transportation needs in your community. * Encourage people to work together in new ways, strengthening relationships between residents, local businesses, community-based organizations (CBOs), and government agencies. * Gather data from real-world use of streets and public spaces.