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Deerfield Beach, Florida officially adopted Complete Streets Guidelines on August 20. With these Guidelines, city staff will be better prepared to plan and design streets that work for all users, regardless of age, ability, or mode of transportation. In 2012, the National Complete Streets Coalition facilitated a Complete Streets workshop with Deerfield Beach. The community is already using a Complete Streets approach in scheduled resurfacing projects and is working to create a Complete Streets Plan and revising other standards and policies. Read more >>
A proposed bill in California will remove highway level-of-service (LOS) and parking from traffic mitigation analyses to “transit priority areas:” parts of metro areas within ½-mile of transit corridors operating with headways of 15 minutes or less during peak hours. Previous requirements had discouraged Complete Streets improvements and in-fill development if that work would negatively impact LOS. Read more about the proposed legislation from the State Smart Transportation Initiative >>
Boulder, Colorado is using a “Living Laboratory” approach to piloting new facilities, including back-in angled parking, a protected cycle track, and a bike box. (GO Boulder)
New Haven, Connecticut is overhauling the intersection of Whitney Avenue and Audubon Street, resolving long-standing safety issues for people who walk along and across the streets. The City adopted Complete Streets guidelines in 2010. (New Haven Independent)
Lee County, Florida has received $10.5 million in TIGER funds to move its Complete Streets initiative into the next phase. The County will fill gaps in the existing network and improve safety for people walking and bicycling. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx spoke of his department’s grant to Lee County: “This is investment. It’s investment in safety. It’s investment in community. It’s investment in mobility. And it’s investment in transportation choice.” Read more >>
New Orleans, Louisiana is implementing Complete Streets through ongoing road repair work, taking advantage of opportunities to align projects and lower overall costs. NOLA adopted a Complete Streets ordinance in December 2011. Read more >>
As a result of statewide Complete Streets legislation, residents of Ontonagon, Michigan have a safer way to walk along Quartz Street. The project connects residents with disabilities living in public housing to downtown. Ontonagon Village Manager, Joe Erickson noted, “This is a group of people that, a lot of times, they’re part of your communities but may not have a say. Here was a chance for them to have a say and actually see something happen.” (Upper Michigan’s Source)
Billings, Montana released its very first Complete Streets Benchmark Report this month. Within, the city tracks its work to develop and use measures appropriate for Complete Streets implementation, such as inventories of existing facilities, bicycle and pedestrian counts at select locations, community-wide commuting trends, connections to transit, rates of physical activity, and crashes. The report also details how recent projects accommodated all users or were exempt from the city’s 2011 Complete Streets policy. Read more >>
Camden, New Jersey, with some help from TIGER funds, has improved several streets for walking, biking, and access to transit facilities. U.S. Senator Mendez spoke of the projects’ ability to attract economic development and reduce congestion. (Mobilizing the Region)
The Towns of Brookhaven and Babylon, New York are implementing their 2010 Complete Streets policies with new sidewalks, bike lanes, and projects to keep streets safe through reduced speeding, reports the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. Read more >>
New York City released its annual Sustainable Streets Index this month, benchmarking the city’s major transportation projects and outcomes for the year. Overall, New Yorkers are driving less and using transit more, while auto traffic has been able to move 7% faster since 2007. New sidewalk space and reduced vehicle conflict areas in Downtown Flushing, Queens, have resulted in a 10% decrease in crashes with injuries declined and a 37% improvement in travel times. At Seventh Avenue and West 23rd St in Manhattan, pedestrian islands and improved traffic patterns resulted in a 61% decrease in crashes with injuries and average delays have been reduced by 25% at the intersection. Read more in the report >>
Federal Highway Administration approves guidance from ITE, NACTO – On August 20, the Federal Highway Administration issued formal support for the The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) Urban Bikeway Design Guide and the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Designing Urban Walkable Thoroughfares. These two guides, developed by members of our Steering Committee and which we’ve long touted as key tools for Complete Streets implementation, build on the flexibility provided in the national standard developed by the American Association of State Highway Officials.
With this official blessing, more communities will use these tools confidently to achieve Complete Streets goals. Transportation leaders across the country agree: “While AASHTO guidelines do accommodate a broad array of street designs, where they are weak is providing designers with information about the way in which local streets are very different,” said Jeffery Tumlin of NelsonNygaard, who advised the development of ITE’s guide. “Engineers need more thorough guidance on the ways in which urban arterials are distinct from rural highways and ways in which to design those arterials to prioritize a wide variety of objectives.” Of the NACTO guide approval, Gabe Klein, Chicago’s Transportation Commissioner said, “Cities and towns all across America want to re-engineer streets to accommodate the needs of all users; for efficient throughput, safety, economy, and overall livability…These guidelines will assist Chicago, and clarify for all of our partners at the local, State and Federal levels, how to provide a safer environment for all users of our roadways.”
Thank you to our new Partner: CNU – This month, the Coalition welcomes its newest Bronze Partner, the Congress for New Urbanism! We’re glad to formalize our long friendship with CNU, which promotes walkable, mixed-use neighborhood development, sustainable communities and healthier living conditions.
Support the Coalition’s work by becoming a Partner today! We offer five levels of Partnership with great benefits at each.
TIGER grants show overwhelming desire for Complete Streets in U.S. communities – In the latest round of TIGER grants, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded $474 million for 52 projects in 37 states. This discretionary grant program awards projects on a competitive basis, looking at economic impacts, innovative approaches, and contributions to livability and sustainability. As with other years, the program was far oversubscribed with 585 applications requesting over $9 billion. Also as with other years, many TIGER grants went to communities looking to improve their streets for all users – whether walking, bicycling, taking transit, or driving.
DC-area developers think cities, employers should do more to support walking/biking – A recent member poll by ULI-Washington found broad enthusiasm for walking and biking to work, with 96% of respondents saying they believed more biking and walking would benefit the DC region. But even though they anticipate large growth of these modes, the developer community doesn’t feel local governments or employers are doing enough: fewer than half of the respondents thought municipalities were adequately supporting walking and biking as viable ways to get to work through construction of better sidewalks, bike lanes, and other aspects of Complete Streets.
Complete Streets mean better access to transit – A study of parking facilities attached to Washington, D.C. area train stations found that poor pedestrian access forces many commuters to drive to the train from as little as a mile or two away. Only 9 of 35 parking areas surveyed were primarily pulling in regional “park-and-ride” users, while the rest were attracting commuters from much smaller areas. Many of the stations are poorly connected to the grid or hemmed in by fast roads, vacant lots, or rail yards, making them effectively inaccessible by any mode other than a car. Better pedestrian connections and would allow more neighborhood commuters to walk or bike to the stations, enhancing both safety, health, and livability in the surrounding streets.
Cobb County, Georgia resident Joe Seconder penned an op-ed in the Marietta Daily Journal on the many benefits of investing in facilities for safe bicycling across the region. “In the realm of transportation dollars, funding for walking and bicycling projects is ‘budget dust,’ with a substantial ROI and myriad benefits,” he says. “Let’s not be stuck with a 1980s planning and transportation mindset. Instead, let’s design our communities for human use.”
Monroe, New Jersey resident Sy Larson writes a letter to the editor of his local paper urging the adoption and implementation of Complete Streets policies to curb tragic deaths of older pedestrians in the state.
Wichita, Kansas residents and leaders are working on a pedestrian master plan to bolster their bicycle plans and make the city safer for all users. An editorial in the Wichita Eagle notes that about 40% of residents do not drive, making a strong case for non-automobile investments.
Your Input Needed: The Innovative DOT
Last year, Smart Growth America partnered with the State Smart Transportation Initiative to publish The Innovative DOT: A Handbook of Policy and Practice, a resource for state transportation officials. The Innovative DOT provides 31 recommendations and documents many of the innovative approaches, covering a range of topics, including project selection, improving system efficiency, integrating transportation and land use, supporting and integrating different modes of transportation and providing efficient and safe freight access.
We are now preparing the second edition of The Innovative DOT, and we need your advice on new material – new topics we should cover, or new case studies that illustrate existing topics, or both. If you know of any outdated or erroneous material in the first edition, we would like to hear about that too. Please e-mail Rayla Bellis ([email protected]) with your thoughts or questions by Sept 30.
Website: PEDSAFE Pedestrian Safety Guide and Countermeasure Selection System – A new online tool from Federal Highway Administration, PEDSAFE, provides the latest information on roadway designs and treatments for improving the safety and mobility of those who walk. The practitioner-oriented website consists of four components: a guide to basic information on pedestrian issues, crash typing, and implementing new treatments; a comprehensive list of more than 65 engineering, education, and enforcement countermeasure options, including cost estimates and expected safety impacts; 85 case studies that document one or more of the countermeasures; and a countermeasure selection tool, which, based on goals (reducing traffic volumes, mitigating certain crash types) and site characteristics (roadway class, rural/urban/suburban, volumes, school zone, etc.) provides a list of appropriate countermeasures.
White Paper: Effectiveness of Road Diets – A new PBIC white paper, “Road Diet Conversions: A Synthesis of Safety Research,” examines data from several multi-year studies on the safety and operational effects of road diets, covering more than 460 sites. The analysis finds that travel-lane reductions are an especially effective tool in increasing roadway safety, while having little impact on traffic volumes. Expected crashes were reduced by an average of 29% when four lanes are converted to three. Though crashes were generally reduced in all environments, the reductions were much higher on rural roads (up to 47%) and somewhat lower on high-volume corridors in urban/suburban areas (19%). In most of the studies, pedestrian and bicycle volumes increased significantly, while the lane conversions did not affect total motor vehicle volumes (though they become less effective as corridors exceed about 1,700 vehicles per peak hour or 20,000 vehicles per day). The paper can be downloaded here >>
White Paper: Crosswalk Marking – This Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center paper examines current research on the effectiveness of various crosswalk marking patterns under different traffic and roadway conditions. “An Overview and Recommendations of High-Visibility Crosswalk Marking Styles” outlines the uniform guidance on crosswalk design and installation, and revisits the debate about marked versus unmarked crosswalks. While studies have found little difference between marked and unmarked crosswalks on lower volume roads, marked crosswalks at uncontrolled points (mid-block or at unsignalized intersections) are associated with higher pedestrian crash rates on 3–8 lane roads, largely due to the increased likelihood of “multiple threat” crashes as pedestrians cross more traffic lanes. The authors find that high-visibility crosswalk marking styles, such as bar pairs and continental markings, provide greater safety for pedestrians than the traditional transverse lines, but that at especially dangerous points, these changes work best if complemented by physical enhancements such as center islands, parking removal, and other countermeasures to improve sightlines and visibility. Download the paper >>
Report and Webinar: ULI Survey of Views on Housing, Transportation and Community – The Urban Land Institute’s recent America in 2013 survey asked more than 1,200 Americans for their views on the places where they live and work, how they get around, and what they expect from the future. The survey found that more than half of Americans would prefer to live in a community with a mix of land uses and incomes, public transportation, and a shorter commute, even if it means a smaller home. On September 24, 2013, from 1-2:30pm Eastern, join a panel of community and transportation experts, including Smart Growth America’s Ilana Preuss, for a discussion of the survey’s findings about Americans’ changing attitudes and the implications for future planning, development and policy making.
Course Materials: Bike/Walk Planning and Design – The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center offers curricula and teaching materials to augment undergraduate courses in basic civil engineering or transportation planning. The modules are intended to be integrated into an existing course, such as the first or introductory course in transportation engineering. The three lessons cover Planning for Pedestrians and Bicycles, Pedestrian and Bicycle Facility Design, and Pedestrian and Bicycle Data and Performance. Each of the three lessons includes slides and notes for a 50-minute lecture, a homework assignment, and in-class exercises.
Webinar: Road Safety Audit and bicycling safety – On September 26 at 3 pm ET, join the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center to learn about Road Safety Audits, formal safety examinations of an existing or future roadway or off-road facility, and how they can be used to improve safety for people on bicycles. Register for the free webinar online >>
Resource: Smart location database – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Smart Growth Program has released the second version of its Smart Location Database, a nationwide GIS data resource to measure “location efficiency.” It includes over 90 variables characterizing the built environment, transit service, destination accessibility, employment, and demographics at the Census block group scale. Users can download data for their selected region, view data online in an interactive map, or access the data through a variety of web services.
Study: Walkable communities and physical activity in children – In a new study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, researchers compared physical activity of children in a neighborhood designed to be more compact and walkable and those in more conventionally designed communities. Children in the smart growth neighborhood got 46 percent more exercise – or 10 extra minutes – than those in the conventional neighborhoods. “Ten minutes of extra activity a day may not sound like much, but it adds up,” said lead author Michael Jerrett, PhD.
Design Guide: Walkable Urban Throroughfares – Newly given the FHWA stamp of approval, now is a great time to start using this valuable guide to creating safe, context-sensitive, multimodal streets in communities of all sizes. This ITE Recommended Practice, produced in collaboration with the Congress for the New Urbanism, is available as a free download.
Design Guide: Urban Bikeway Design Guide – Also recently approved for use by the FHWA, the Urban Bikeway Design Guide from the National Association of City Transportation Officials provides provide cities with state-of-the-practice solutions to implement Complete Streets and transportation networks safe and enjoyable for bicyclists. It is available as a free download.
“It’s really about the value of your community — making it a more walkable place and better known as a place that’s easy to get around.”
— Jerry Fried, former Mayor of Montclair, New Jersey
“Like that of parks and pools, the presence of bike paths, bike lanes and even sidewalks can communicate to businesses and young professionals that Wichita values wellness, promotes recreation and caters to families.”
— Wichita Eagle Editorial Board
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