Author: Colin Murphy

Complete Streets News – June 2014

By ·

Policy Adoption

In May, the City of Somerville became the latest Massachusetts jurisdiction to adopt a Complete Streets policy, and the first in the state to do so by ordinance.

Two Montana towns, Sidney and Hamilton, adopted Complete Streets policies in June, adding to the list of rural communities that recognize the importance of making streets work for everyone who uses them.

New Jersey continues to lead the nation in the number of communities with Complete Streets on the books. In the last month, the Coalition learned about eight recently adopted policies, including those in East Windsor, Elizabeth, Hightstown, Hillsborough, Pennington, South Brunswick, Summit, and Tenafly. These additions put the state’s total policy count over 100 at all levels of state and government.

New York State has also been steadily adding policies. The Lake Erie City of Dunkirk adopted a Complete Streets policy on May 20. Two days later, the City of Troy, in the Capital District, passed an ordinance adding Complete Streets as part of its city code.

Complete Streets

New report on pedestrian deaths underscores need for strong performance measures — Complete Streets News — May 2014

By ·

On May 20, we released the latest edition of Dangerous by Design, a national report on the epidemic of pedestrian fatalities and what we can do to prevent these deaths. Dangerous by Design 2014 crunches the numbers on ten years of pedestrian fatality data, looking at where these fatalities happen and who’s most at risk, and makes specific recommendations at the national and state levels.

Complete Streets

Complete Streets News – April 2014

By ·

Policy Adoption

The Middletown, CT Planning and Zoning Commission voted last month to incorporate a Complete Streets Master Plan as an amendment to the city’s Plan of Conservation and Development. The plan’s development was led by a citizen committee working closely with the Common Council and Mayor Daniel Drew, and its adoption will ensure Complete Streets principles are integral part of the city’s long-term planning process. Read more >>

The city council in Columbus, GA, which had been working toward a Complete Streets policy since the fall, resolved in March to adopt the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Complete Streets design policy as its own guide for all local transportation improvements. Read more >>

The Philadelphia-area community of Cherry Hill, NJ, adopted a Complete Streets policy in late March. The resolution provides additional backing for the commitment to multimodal accessibility the township made in its 2013 pedestrian and bicycle master plan. Read more >>

Chattanooga became the latest Tennessee city to adopt a Complete Streets measure, when city council adopted an ordinance on April 1. The new policy builds on the successful launch of a 33-station bikeshare system in 2012—the largest new system in the country at the time—which galvanized local support for inclusive transportation policy and infrastructure. Read more >>

Complete Streets

Complete Streets News – March 2014

By ·

Policy Adoption The Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization adopted a Complete Streets policy in early March. The policy is a key part of the region’s 2035 Long Range Transportation Plan, which emphasizes the expansion of the transit, pedestrian and bicycle networks. The policy requires that projects adhere to Complete Streets principles to be funded under the … Continued

Complete Streets

The last frontier: Complete Streets in Alaska

By ·

anchorageThis multi-use sidepath in Anchorage, AK is maintained and used for transportation year-round. Photo courtesy of Lori Schanche, Anchorage Department of Public Works.

Last month, Senator Mark Begich of Alaska introduced the Safe Streets Act of 2014 (S. 2004), which requires states and regions to adopt Complete Streets policies for federally funded transportation projects.

Why would a Senator from the nation’s coldest state introduce legislation that supports walking, biking and transit? Complete Streets strategies aren’t just for big cities or warm climates. Smaller cities and towns across the country are embracing Complete Streets, with policies now in place in 48 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.

In Alaska, communities as far north as Fairbanks and North Pole are putting Complete Streets principles to work as more and more residents get around without getting in the car. And these efforts are paying off. The state ranks highest in the U.S. in the percentage of walking and biking commutes and in per capita funding for non-motorized transportation, and third-lowest in fatality rate among walkers and bicyclists.

A new implementation brief about Complete Streets in Alaska has even more information about the strategies being used by this snowy state. Here are some highlights from the brief.

Complete Streets

After the ordinance: Implementing Complete Streets strategies in New Orleans

By ·

Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans, LA
Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans after Complete Streets improvements. Photo by Jennifer Ruley.

With one of the best Complete Streets policies in the nation and champions for multimodal transportation on the City Council and public agencies, New Orleans, LA is taking concrete steps to build a post-Katrina transportation network that’s safer, more equitable and more fully connected than before.

The city’s most recent addition to its list of accomplishments is it’s new Complete Streets Advisory Committee. This month the City finalized the membership of the new Committee, which will make sure public agencies and processes work together to create a transportation system that works for all residents, no matter how they get around. The Committee’s first tasks include reviewing local subdivision regulations and deciding how to measure the success of Complete Streets implementation.

Complete Streets Local Leaders Council

Learn how Memphis, TN, is creating Complete Streets with new policy and implementation brief

By ·

Broad Ave., Memphis, TN
The reconfigured Broad Avenue in Memphis. Photo by Justin Fox Burks.

Earlier this year Memphis, TN, passed the 500th Complete Streets policy in the United States. In a new policy and implementation brief, we detail how Memphis achieved its Complete Streets successes so far, the ongoing efforts in the region and the work that remains to be done.

Complete Streets

Memphis adopts the 500th Complete Streets policy in the U.S.

By ·

On August 14th, 2013, the National Complete Streets Coalition will mark the adoption of the country’s 500th Complete Streets policy with an event celebrating the communities across the nation that have committed to building safer, more accessible streets for all users. Please join us for a live video stream of the event’s speakers and panels. In the meantime, we invite you to get in on the conversation at our Facebook page or with the #500policies hashtag on Twitter.

The celebration will be focusing in part on Memphis, Tennessee, whose new Complete Streets measure pushed us over the 500-policy mark. Earlier this year, Mayor A.C. Wharton signed an executive order directing that new road facilities and major renovations in Memphis accommodate all users and all modes. In addition to the development of a new multimodal Street Design Guide, per the executive order, Mayor Wharton announced plans to further expand the city’s bicycle facilities, including construction of 15 miles of new protected bike lanes. This official embrace of Complete Streets is part of a remarkable, citizen-driven turnaround for a city so long built around the automobile that Bicycling magazine twice named it one of America’s worst cities for bicycling.

Remaking streets from the ground up

For years, dedicated Memphians had worked to improve conditions for walking, biking, and transit in the city, but the grassroots movement for safer, more vibrant streets most visibly coalesced a few years ago in the Broad Avenue area in east Memphis. Originally the commercial corridor for nearby railcar manufacturing, Broad Avenue had fallen into neglect by the 1990s, with only a few active businesses in a landscape of fast roads, acres of parking, endless curb cuts, and indistinguishable sidewalks–a bleak environment where nobody would walk if they could help it.

Complete Streets