Streets & Places
Making the Transportation & Land Use Connection
Turning your community’s vision into reality takes more than just a bold idea, it requires an integrated approach that connects transportation and land use in ways that reflect local values and future needs. Grounded in local context and guided by a forward-looking perspective, we help communities balance growth, mobility options, environmental stewardship and long-term innovation.
Our multidisciplinary team brings deep expertise in land use planning, active transportation, roadway design and safety to every project. We collaborate with governments of all sizes to shape the policies, codes and design frameworks that lead to livable, accessible and attractive communities: places that reflect the people who call them home.
Creating Cohesive Communities
Context-Sensitive Corridors
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to roadway design; context matters. We carefully consider how a roadway shapes and is shaped by its surroundings to design the right road in the right place.
Long-Range Planning
Our experts are well versed in the issues facing communities today. From affordable housing needs, comprehensive planning and climate resilience, we have the expertise to help face your community’s challenges.
Form-Based Code
Form-based codes bring a community’s vision to life by focusing on physical form rather than separating uses. Unlike conventional zoning, they support clearer outcomes for residents and planners alike.
Active Transportation
Our approach to active transportation goes beyond checking the box. We focus on creating facilities that are comfortable, safe and convenient for people of all ages and abilities.
Public Engagement
Public engagement must capture the full range of viewpoints. Our team meets people where they are, whether online, at a local event or a traditional public meeting, to ensure every perspective is heard.
Safe System Approach
No roadway death is acceptable, and preventing those deaths requires holistic thinking. We apply Safe System principles to build transportation networks that protect everyone who uses them.
Our Approach
We craft plans that guide urban growth and improve multimodal transportation networks, helping communities turn vision into action.
Successful project outcomes begin with listening. Our “Listen First” approach prioritizes understanding community needs before bringing solutions forward. We develop and manage public involvement plans that raise awareness, invite meaningful participation and build lasting consensus. Once we identify key stakeholders that evenly represent the makeup of the community, we focus on reaching them early, informing them of the process and encouraging collaboration.
With a commitment to integrity, approachability and transparency, we work to build support that carries through to project adoption and implementation.
At the start of every project, we conduct a thorough collection and analysis of the best available data and supporting information. This helps us identify areas in need of development and understand existing constraints.
Our review includes existing conditions and trends such as those related to demographics, population projections, current and future land use, past and ongoing planning efforts, expert interviews, programmed capital improvements, transportation network deficiencies, environmentally sensitive lands, flood zones, evacuation routes and more. The result is a detailed community profile that informs and guides our project approach.
With a strong foundation of data and community input, we tap into our team’s multidisciplinary expertise in planning, transit, civil engineering, public finance and alternative delivery to shape clear goals, policies and projects that bring a shared vision to life. We review existing plans and codes to flag conflicts or outdated language, ensuring that future efforts work together, not against each other.
By drawing on our team’s wide expertise and national footprint, we help communities plan for growth in a way that’s coordinated, resilient and ready for what’s next.
Ideas at Every Scale
From small rural towns to major metropolitan cities, we deliver safe, efficient streets, updated development codes and practical urban design solutions that reflect the communities they serve. Whether transformational multimillion-dollar capital projects, forward-thinking comprehensive plans that lays the groundwork for decades of smarter growth or a punch list of improvements that can be tackled in just months, we propose pragmatic, constructible solutions at every price point.
Spurring an Urban Renaissance
Since its completion, the Walk-Bike Tampa Downtown Multimodal Plan has significantly improved multimodal experience for the thousands of new residents, workers and visitors drawn to the neighborhood.
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Removing Barriers to Affordable Housing
By working with us to amend outdated housing regulations and remove the red tape preventing crucial housing projects from taking shape, our clients are shrinking the affordable housing gap.
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Supporting Economic Development
To improve the City of Bradenton’s MLB spring training field and nearby Village of the Arts neighborhood, Benesch uncovered systemic issues throughout the area and developed a range of solutions to address each.
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Your Vision Zero Experts
Our team has extensive experience working on transportation safety action plans. Starting with the foundation of a Safe System Approach, we work with communities to envision a future free from roadway related deaths and injuries.
Our planners are supported by dedicated traffic engineers who use state-of-the-art technology to collect, analyze and interpret data, allowing us to ensure safety is at the core of your growing community.
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