Federal actions threaten roadway safety efforts: What’s at stake

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This post was written by Heidi Simon and Eric Cova.

The Complete Streets movement was started more than twenty years ago to build shared energy and strategy for making our streets safer. As the convener of the National Complete Streets Coalition, we have worked alongside communities large and small to implement real changes that make our streets more accommodating so that everyone can get around more safely and comfortably.

Our work has always involved disrupting the status quo to prioritize the safety of all road users. While we have often disagreed with decisions from USDOT and other transportation authorities, we have always operated with the understanding that safety was a shared goal. But if safety is truly a priority, why remove the very guidance and resources that help communities make streets safer?

Over the past week, the Trump Administration has removed many important safety resources. Last Friday, we noticed that the main Complete Streets page on the Federal Highway Administration’s website had been removed—erasing decades of research, case studies, and proven solutions. Equally troubling, the Road to Zero Coalition, a national initiative providing resources and support to advance the goal of reducing traffic fatalities to zero by 2050, was shut down. Both Complete Streets and Road to Zero are mission-driven approaches focused on saving lives—priorities that should rise above politics. We fear other webpages, coalitions, and resources that serve practitioners and advocates working to make streets safer will suffer a similar fate.

States, communities, and advocates will sorely miss these resources. Passion, dedication, and hard work need to be met by leadership and support, not censorship. At his recent confirmation hearing, Secretary Duffy made a commitment to safety, but it is difficult to reconcile this commitment to safety with an agency that is erasing resources essential to saving lives.

The National Complete Streets Coalition and Smart Growth America have been working to collect some of these resources that may be on the chopping block and are looking for ways to make them easily available. We’ll also continue to produce our own resources like the 10 Elements of a Complete Streets Policy, Best Practices in Rural Mobility, and A Guide to Measuring Complete Streets Progress. And we’re staying in the trenches with those already at work—we’ll continue to hold decision-makers accountable by standing with advocates, practitioners, and those elected officials who are willing to act towards safety instead of just talking about it. Stay tuned for exciting announcements coming soon on our 2025 Champions Institute and Complete Streets Leadership Academy.

We know that our movement is stronger when we all work together because the idea that streets should be safe for everyone, no matter where they call home, does not fall within party lines. Communities working to make streets safer shouldn’t lose access to essential resources because of events in DC.

The Complete Streets movement needs your voice now more than ever. Join us in our fight: Contact your federal representatives to tell them that safety, and certainly resources on how to improve safety, can’t be partisan. At a time when roadway deaths remain alarmingly high, these resources are the bare minimum communities should be able to rely on. Leadership needs to know they will be held accountable for actions they take—or don’t take—for safer streets.

Here are some additional non-governmental resources from SGA and partners that you should look at:

 

Advocacy Complete Streets