Catch up on the conversations from Street Lights 2016 — This month we had the honor of hosting Street Lights 2016, the National Complete Streets Coalition’s first-ever national conference, in Sacramento, CA. Leaders from across the country came together to share ideas, inspiration, and calls for actions on Complete Streets particularly as they relate to equity and implementation, two pillars of the Coalition’s core mission. Read the event recap, view the photo album, and check out our Storify of the event.
Tickets on sale for Seventh Annual Complete Streets Dinner — Join us on Tuesday, January 10, 2017 at Rosa Mexicano in Washington, DC for the Seventh Annual Complete Streets Dinner. Conveniently scheduled during the 2017 Transportation Research Board meeting, this intimate and fun event brings together top Complete Streets professionals, policymakers, supporters, and friends to celebrate the successes of the Complete Streets movement in the last year. Tickets are now on sale! Check out these photos from last year’s dinner for a sense of the fun.
Send us your Complete Streets policies — Has your community passed a Complete Streets policy? The National Complete Streets Coalition is collecting city, county, regional, and state policies for documentation in our Policy Atlas and Inventory and our Best Complete Streets Policies reports. Any policy passed before December 31, 2016 may be considered for our Best Complete Streets Policies of 2016 report. Please send a PDF copy of your policy to Mary Eveleigh.
Call for proposals, 2017 National Walking Summit — America Walks and the Every Body Walk! Collaborative are excited to announce the 2017 National Walking Summit to be held in St. Paul, MN from September 13-15, 2017. The theme of the 2017 National Walking Summit is “Vital and Vibrant Communities: The Power of Walkability.” The Summit Program Committee is looking for sessions that emphasize action-oriented and results-driven research, programs, policies, and partnership to promote walking and walkability. Proposals are due by December 15, 2016.
Smart growth and the next administration — While the country’s economy has steadily been on the rise since the recession, wide disparities remain between those who are included in the economic recovery and those who are being left out. The incoming presidential administration has a key opportunity to bridge this divide and make the economy work for all Americans—particularly for lower- and middle-income workers and families. Smart Growth America released a short guide of federal policy recommendations to help the next administration accomplish just that.
How HCM6 can support Complete Streets — The Transportation Research Board and the Institute of Transportation Engineers are cosponsoring a series of webinars about implementing the Highway Capacity Manual 6th Edition (HCM6): A Guide for Multimodal Mobility Analysis. Tune in February 7, 2017, 3:00-4:30pm ET for “Multimodal Performance—How the HCM6 Can Support Complete Streets Analyses,” detailing urban streets and intersection methods, multimodal performance assessment, and use cases for Complete Streets.
Achieving multimodal networks — A multimodal transportation network is key to getting people where they need to go, whether they make the trip by car, on foot, on a bicycle, or all of the above. However, when it comes to designing highways and other roads, local partners are often unaware of the flexibility they have to safely accommodate all road users—including bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit riders. That’s why the Federal Highway Administration recently published a new guide to help states, local governments, transit agencies, and others make the most of their road infrastructure.
Pedestrian deaths rise dramatically in Houston — The number of pedestrians in Houston who have been struck and killed by cars has spiked this year according to police. National Complete Streets Coalition Director Emiko Atherton said design issues can become evident as cities attract more millennials, who tend to prefer walking over driving. Harris County commissioner Steve Radack said “hundreds and hundreds of miles of county roads” lack sidewalks, and many subdivisions in unincorporated areas have been designed without thought to pedestrians.
Understanding the benefit of Boston’s bike infrastructure — The American Journal of Public Health released a recent study evaluating changes in bicycle use and cyclist safety in Boston, Massachusetts, following the rapid expansion of its bicycle infrastructure between 2007 and 2014. The study measured bicycle lane mileage, a surrogate for bicycle infrastructure expansion, and quantified total estimated number of commuters. The expansion of Boston’s bicycle infrastructure was associated with increases in both bicycle use and cyclist safety.
On November 21, Pittsburgh, PA’s City Council unanimously passed a Complete Streets ordinance. The policy is guided by five overarching improvement areas: experience, environment, economy, accessibility, and multi-modal efficiency. “Our streets are one of the city’s greatest assets,” says Councilwoman Deb Gross, the bill’s sponsor. “This is about improving the quality of life for residents of all ages in our neighborhoods by fully harnessing our public right of ways…We are trying to increase walkability, improve safety, and move people rather than just cars.”
The Fort Wayne, IN Board of Public Works adopted a Complete Streets resolution on Wednesday, November 2. According to a press release from The Fort Wayne Board of Public Works, “The Complete Streets resolution will guide the development of new and reconstructed streets in neighborhoods across Fort Wayne.” More than a dozen Fort Wayne organizations have been working toward the new policy for many years, including Arts United, Allen County Department of Heath, Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, Citilink, and YMCA.
At a November 3 meeting of Manatee County, FL’s Board of County Commissioners, members voted to approve a resolution incorporating a Complete Streets section into the County Public Works Highway and Traffic Standards Manual. The resolution draws on goals and policy recommended to the County Commission in late 2012 by a Complete Streets Workgroup. Commissioners see Complete Streets as a valuable tool when implemented in urban redevelopment because much of the cost can be found in grants from Federal and State Departments of Transportation.
Ridgefield, WA Civil Engineer Bryan Kast presented before city council October 27 with the first update on the recently adopted Complete Streets policy. Council adopted the policy first in September 2015. In the presentation, Kast listed some of the major increases on infrastructure in the last year. Roughly 4,000 feet of new bicycle and more than 21,500 feet of pedestrian infrastructure was created in Ridgefield in a year along with 47 new curb ramps. With the first year of the program completed, Kast said that the major focus was on planning more so than other aspects, looking ahead to incorporating a multimodal network of trails to go along with the more complete streets.
Atlanta, GA voters have approved spending on changing the city’s transportation infrastructure. About 25 major thoroughfares will get overhauls, funded either by the Renew Atlanta infrastructure bond package, or by the transportation sales tax on last week’s ballot. At a previous meeting, the city collected feedback on the plan for Howell Mill Road with a group of neighbors gathered around a map showing bike lanes, pedestrian paths, and redesigned intersections. City of Atlanta Planning Commissioner Tim Keane said, “If you build the infrastructure and you reform your streets and you make them safer for walking and cycling, people will use them. Lifestyles will change.”