The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has provided the first look at what their version of the next federal transportation authorization might look like, and complete streets gets prominent placement. Chairman James Oberstar and Ranking Member John Mica released a lengthy ‘Blueprint’ for the soon-to-be-introduced bill. It calls for “comprehensive street design policies and principles,” and the Executive Summary (.pdf) makes clear that this is indeed complete streets:
“To ensure that roadways are built with the needs of all users in mind, the Surface Transportation Authorization Act requires that States and metropolitan regions consider comprehensive street design principles. Comprehensive street design takes into account the needs of all users, including motorists, motorcyclists, transit riders, cyclists, pedestrians, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities. Comprehensive street design principles are not prescriptive, do not mandate any particular design elements, and result in greatly varied facilities depending on the specific needs of the community in which they are located.” (pg 10)
The bill would put responsibility for implementation of this new requirement under a new Office of Livability within the Federal Highway Administration – see page 39 of the Blueprint (.pdf). But that’s about as much detail as we get: will the bill follow HR 1443‘s clear direction on what complete streets policies should include? How will those receiving federal dollars be held accountable? How would a new Office of Livability achieve the mainstreaming and integration of all modes into existing road programs that is the hallmark of a successful complete streets policy? We’ll know more when the legislation is introduced, as early as next week. Stay tuned. (And in the meantime visit our federal page to see what you can do to help us keep up the momentum in both the House and Senate.)
Even as the Congress makes its first steps toward complete streets, the rest of the country plunges ahead: in the last 24 hours we’ve heard about policy advances in Hennepin County, MN and in the Michigan legislature, as well as newly adopted policies in Las Cruces, New Mexico and surrounding jurisdictions. Current count of places with policies: 95. We’ll let you know when we reach 100.