A traffic garden is all kinds of blooming in Newport, Rhode Island

The concept of a “traffic garden” is about as simple as it gets: Take a paved lot that nobody is using, paint it over with simulated streets, and invite children to bike around. When the kids ride down the lanes, they learn how to keep to the right and signal at each “intersection.” The bigger the crowd, the more young riders adapt to the flow of traffic. Simple, but effective.

The latest traffic garden sprang up in Newport, Rhode Island, last October, replacing an abandoned lot on the edge of historic Miantonomi Park. The project was orchestrated by Bike Newport, the town’s 15-year-old bicycle advocacy nonprofit, in partnership with a number of local institutions.

Traffic Garden from Robert Isenberg on Vimeo.

Traffic gardens probably originated in Europe (go figure) and have caught on around the world. They also go by the names “traffic park” and, in Quebec City, “parc l’éducation cycliste.” One of the most ambitious traffic gardens was the Waterloo Safety Village, an artificial community in Ontario, complete with houses, restaurants, and working traffic signals. The Waterloo site has closed, but a copycat project popped up in Asheville, New York, in 2010: The Chautauqua Safety Village incorporates small electric vehicles as well, to mimic safe driving, among other training exercises.

Traffic Garden (Photo: Bike Newport Facebook)

The trend is popular enough to have its own consulting firm, Discover Traffic Gardens, which has helped establish short-term and permanent traffic gardens across the United States.

As for the Newport traffic garden, the site is one of several new additions to local bike infrastructure in the seaside town, which was founded in 1639 and is best known as a sailing capital. Just around the corner from the traffic garden stands the Big Blue Bike Barn, which loans out rides from its “bike library,” and a pump track for riders hoping to practice their jumps. Along the perimeter of town, a 2.5-kilometer multi-use path now parallels the highway. As Bike Newport representatives told local media during the grand opening, they hope this traffic garden is only the first of many.