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One region is creating a unified approach to Complete Streets thanks to our technical assistance—with a twist

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Complete Streets features on Main Street in South Bend, IN. Photo by Smart Streets SB via Twitter.

A bike lane that only lasts one block is not particularly useful. That’s why a Complete Streets approach is about more than remaking one given street. It’s about creating a connected network, where people can easily travel anywhere they need to go by a variety of travel modes.

A similar philosophy is the basis of a new project we are doing with Indiana communities along the border of Michigan, in a region known as “Michiana.” Together with the Michiana Area Council of Governments (MACOG), we are helping to bring together communities interested in Complete Streets to make the entire region safer and more convenient for everyone, no matter their age, ability, income, race, or how they choose to travel.

Complete Streets

Register now for “Greening the Streetscape: Complete Streets & Stormwater Management”

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The National Complete Streets Coalition is excited to continue our monthly webinar series, designed to help professionals from a variety of disciplines put Complete Streets principles into action. Implementation & Equity 201: The Path Forward to Complete Streets is exploring a new issue each month related to creating safer, healthier, more equitable streets.

Our next webinar will be Greening the Streetscape: Complete Streets & Stormwater Management, taking place on Monday, July 10th from 1:00-2:00 PM EDT. Co-host NACTO will join the Coalition in answering questions such as: How can transportation projects be designed to benefit the environment, promote public health, and manage stormwater, all while creating vibrant, attractive, walkable places? And what innovative strategies are cities around the country using to make their streets safer and more resilient?

Complete Streets

A free assistance opportunity for innovative state DOTs

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DOTs across the country are looking for innovative and flexible ways to meet users’ needs in ways that cost less to build and maintain. Accelerating Practical Solutions is an opportunity for six state DOTs to win a one-day workshop with our expert transportation staff.

DOT Innovation

Everything you need to know about applying for our Safe Streets Academy

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Applications are currently open for the National Complete Streets Coalition’s Safe Streets Academy, a program designed to help jurisdictions transform their commitment to traffic safety into practice.

On Friday, June 23, we hosted a live Q&A webinar all about the Academy application process, and a recording of that event is now available in the video above.

Complete Streets

A new unified home for state smart transportation

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For the past several years Smart Growth America has been helping state departments of transportation improve safety and reliability, preserve their assets, and accelerate project delivery to expand economic opportunity and create healthier, more livable communities.

Our Innovative DOT program has worked with state DOTs in Florida, Vermont, Hawaii, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, and Tennessee. And over those years, we’ve released three editions of The Innovative DOT: A handbook of policy and practice, one of the most comprehensive guides available for DOTs committed to innovative excellence, in partnership with the State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI).

DOT Innovation

Complete Streets News – June 2017

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Apply now for the Safe Streets Academy— The National Complete Streets Coalition is excited to offer a new, free opportunity for technical assistance. The Safe Streets Academy will bring together engineers, planners, and related professionals from three jurisdictions for a year-long series of intensive, hands-on trainings on interventions to address traffic safety. Jurisdictions with populations of at least 100,000 are eligible to apply. Applications will be accepted through Sunday, July 16. Join us for an informational webinar tomorrow, June 23 at 1:00 PM EDT for an overview of the Academy and a chance to ask questions.

Complete Streets

Working with Quitman, MS to analyze their strategies for long-term growth

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Quitman Mayor Eddie Fulton addresses participants at Smart Growth America’s technical assistance workshop.

Quitman, MS (population 2,209) is a cozy town in eastern Mississippi that prides itself on its locally owned Main Street businesses, banking and health care industries, commitment to green practices, and fiber optic internet access.

Quitman wants to build on these assets, and leaders are looking for ways to grow the town’s economy and revitalize the town center. To help do that, Quitman leaders applied for an won a Foundations of Smart Growth technical assistance workshop as part of our program in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. After talking with the town about their ideas and plans, we also awarded Quitman a Fiscal Impact Analysis at no cost, as part of our Rural Development program in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Our Fiscal Impact Analysis is a data-intensive model designed to show how different development scenarios could impact future public finances.

Technical assistance

“Making the Most of Main Street: Complete Streets & Walkable Communities” webinar recap

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Last month we hosted “Making the Most of Main Street: Complete Streets & Walkable Communities”, the fourth installment in our monthly webinar series, Implementation & Equity 201: The Path Forward to Complete Streets. A recording of the webinar is now available above. You can also download the PDF of the presentation, or read the brief recap below.

Complete Streets

Register now for “Rethinking First & Last Mile: Transit-Driven Complete Streets”

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The National Complete Streets Coalition is excited to continue our monthly webinar series, designed to help professionals from a variety of disciplines put Complete Streets principles into action. Implementation & Equity 201: The Path Forward to Complete Streets is exploring a new issue each month related to creating safer, healthier, more equitable streets.

Our next webinar in the series, Rethinking First & Last Mile: Transit-Driven Complete Streets will take place on Thursday, June 29, 2017 from 1:00-2:00 PM EDT. Speakers from Michael Baker International and the American Public Transportation Association will join the Coalition in answering questions such as: How can transit-driven Complete Streets provide vital connections to address the first/mile last mile problem? And how can transit agencies take on a more active role in Complete Streets design and implementation? This webinar will explore examples of how the Jacksonville Transportation Authority leveraged its transit system redesign to promote improved connectivity through Complete Streets. Speakers will rethink the concept of first mile/last mile on a granular scale, exploring what kinds of infrastructure are needed to provide safe, convenient transportation choices for transit-dependent communities. Registration is now open—we hope you’ll be able to join us.

Complete Streets

How Bluefield, WV and Weirton, WV are using Cool & Connected ideas to help their economic development

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Downtown Bluefield, WV. Photo by Joseph via Flickr.

Earlier this year we joined the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Appalachian Regional Commission to start delivering Cool & Connected technical assistance, a workshop series designed to help rural communities find new economic opportunities by leveraging investments in broadband, or reliable, high-speed internet access.

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