Last Thursday, St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay signed complete streets into law. The city will now “consider complete street elements in the design, construction and maintenance of public transportation projects, improvements and facilities.”
This week, we link you to some great videos out of Dubuque and Charlotte; talk a little about road diets; see Hennepin County’s complete streets policy in action; give an update on Michigan’s pending legislation; and more!
It’s hard to think of Michigan without thinking of the automobile, but the growing Michigan Complete Streets Coalition (now at 70+ members!) is working to change that. With two bills set for a Committee vote today and more and more communities adopting their own policies, the Coalition is helping Michigan be a safer, healthier, and stronger place to live.
In Columbus, OH – where complete streets has taken hold in many transportation agencies – President Obama and Secretary LaHood attended the groundbreaking of the 10,000th Recovery Act road project: a complete street.
While the U.S. Department of Transportation has gotten lots of attention for its efforts to promote livable communities, the Department of Health and Human Services is also determined to invest in livability – for health. They are directing $650 million to 44 communities through the Communities Putting Prevention to Work to institute policy and environmental changes that will help make the healthy choice the easy choice.
Last month, the Minnesota Complete Streets Coalition celebrated the passage of a strong state law. They have kindly shared more information on the bill and how they did it, including lessons learned.
Last Friday, the National Complete Streets Coalition joined our Coalition partners Transportation for America, America Bikes, and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, along with dozens of other advocates, to personally thank Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for his support for all modes of transportation. We’re also excited by a more mundane document: the U.S. DOT draft Strategic Plan, which makes adoption of state and local Complete Streets policies one of the Department’s Performance Measures.
A central strategy of the Complete Streets movement has been to learn from local success. We are proud to share a publication that takes this strategy to its highest level: Complete Streets: Best Policy and Implementation Practices, a joint project of the staff of the National Complete Streets Coalition and the American Planning Association.
The White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity, headed by First Lady Michelle Obama, released a new report and action plan to end childhood obesity in a generation. The report specifically recommends a federal Complete Streets policy.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention become one of the first agencies to weigh in on the federal transportation reauthorization – and transportation choice is front and center in their recommendations.