Urban villages retain the general concept of the interconnected street grid but modify it somewhat to fit specific physical characteristics. Because urban villages are not necessarily sited on large expanses of flat land, as are most historic city centers, roads in these areas need to respond to varying topographic characteristics and natural barriers.

Urban villages are largely residential in character and hence do not usually require roadway sections in excess of two lanes. Again, it is important that these two-lane roadways be interconnected to the maximum extent possible to optimize the route choices available to residents. 

If, in some places, good connectivity has the potential to invite regional “cut-through” traffic to neighborhoods, it is very important that residential streets be designed such that they do not serve as appealing regional routes. In particular, high vehicular speeds should be strongly discouraged, through the use of narrow roadway widths, parallel parking, and traffic calming features—on-street physical entities such as roundabouts, splitter islands, and textured paving—where appropriate.

8.1.3 Suburban Villages

Suburban villages are defined by high-volume, multi-lane highways and usually limited street connectivity. Although it would be difficult to attain a complete, consistent interconnected street network in these areas, several critical elements of connectivity can be restored to increase the effectiveness of the local circulation pattern. 

Of critical importance is the notion of cross-access—the interconnection of neighboring land parcels. Although the ideal approach would be to construct a discernable public street network across such parcels, cross-access can also be attained simply by connecting adjacent parking lots with short sections of driveway. 

Cross-access is important because it removes extremely short trips from the main thoroughfare. For instance, if a motorist wants to proceed from a gas station to the neighboring discount store, a lack of cross-access would require the motorist to re-enter the traffic flow on the main artery to travel approximately 100 feet up the road. Such short trips introduce a high degree of traffic friction to the highway, which greatly reduces its overall regional carrying capacity and creates bottlenecks, backups, and frequent traffic accidents. If, however, the two parcels facilitate cross-access, i.e. if their parking lots are connected, then the motorist would be able to proceed directly between them without having to mix with regional traffic.

The second major element of the restoration of connectivity in suburban village areas is the enhancement of side street access to commercial properties. As with cross-access, side street access ensures that local residents wanting to access nearby stores do not have to fight regional traffic along the main thoroughfare to get to them. 

The consistent application of side street access and cross-access can ensure that local residents will never have to mix with regional traffic on the main highway for local trips. This holds great importance both to the quality of life of local residents and to the effectiveness of the main highway in moving regional traffic. This increased transportation effectiveness, in turn, lessens the pressure to further widen the highway into a section that is obtrusive and unacceptable to the residents of surrounding neighborhoods.